


Beyond This

by IntoBeyondDarkness



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Death Threats, Friendship, Fun, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Humor, Love, Threats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-20 04:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoBeyondDarkness/pseuds/IntoBeyondDarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are seven steps to breaking a wall successfully and the gang must accomplish them all in one day for the sake of philosophy. Meanwhile, Candace might find out what Jeremy likes about her and Doofenshmirtz must make his nemesis happy by sundown, along with receiving the closure of his counterpart's unruly death... Phinebella, Canderemy, Ferbnessa and SLIGHT Perryshmirtz.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Wall

**Author's Note:**

> I have a lot of this story done already, anyway.
> 
> -Natty

Phineas and Ferb sat in the backyard under their tree planning what they were gonna do that day.

"Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna-" Phineas glanced at his step-brother "No, I always know what we're going to do. It's your turn Ferb, it's only fair. So old brother of mine, what do YOU wanna do today?"

Ferb's eyes widened before he smiled and nodded. The green haired boy raced out of the backyard leaving a trail of dust behind. Phineas casually waited under the tree, he scratched the back of his head and looked around boredly. Eventually Ferb came back with a blowtorch and a jar of mayonnaise. He walked up to the screen and began torching it.

"Whoa! Whoa! Ferb, what are you doing?" Phineas held his hands out to stop his step-brother from causing any damage.

Ferb lifted up his face shield and handed the red head a blueprint.

"You want to destroy the fourth wall?" Phineas questioned.

The British boy nodded in return.

"Well…okay. I guess there's no real harm in doing that. Just be careful"

Ferb gave him a thumbs up and got back to work. Phineas watched him.

Isabella came through the gate "Watcha Doin?"

"Ferb's breaking the fourth wall"

"Oh"

The two watched the green haired boy silently for a while.

"I think he's almost through" Isabella pointed out.

"Yup…" Phineas looked around "Hey, Where's Perry?"

"He's at Dr. D's" Ferb told him.

"Oh yeah…I wonder how he's doing."

...

*Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporateeeeeeeeed!*

 

"Behold! My Fourth Wall Rebuild-inator!"

Perry rolled his eyes through his cage. Honestly he had enough of the fourth wall in their 'The Meeting' adventure. The whole thing was just really stressful. Of course he was happy the boys regained their memories and became friends with Doofenshmirtz, but the whole ordeal was just random and sketchy. The author really could have done better.

"Backstory time! I am SICK of people breaking the fourth wall. And it's not just because of that whole adventure we went through a while back where everyone was constantly breaking the fourth wall, no. As I watch television I see more and more people breaking the fourth wall! Pokémon did it! Looney Tunes did it! Phineas and Ferb did it! (Not your owners, the show in general) I just did it! See? Everyone breaks the fourth wall! But not anymore! With this machine I will fix every fourth wall in the ENTIRE TRI STATE AREA! And outside of this show too. See? I did it again! It just can't be helped. And the thing is, I'm not doing any REAL harm. I'm sure you're just as sick of it as I am, am I right?"

Perry nodded.

"I thought so. Now watch as I rebuild THE FOURTH WALL!" Doofenshmirtz pressed the button and the room was engulfed in a white flash. "Did it work?" The scientist looked around and saw that Perry had escaped his cage "Hey, how did you escape?"

The platypus sighed and handed the doctor a piece of paper. Doofenshmirtz took the paper and read it aloud. "You do know you're breaking the fourth wall by trying to fix the fourth wall, right?" Doofenshmirtz crumpled the paper in his hands and shook in frustration "CURSE YOU IMAGINARY WALL AT THE FRONT OF THE STAGE IN A TRADITIONAL THREE-WALLED SET!"

Perry shook his head and jet packed out the window.

...

 

*Flynn-Fletcher Residence.*

"Alright Ferb! You're almost there!" Phineas cheered.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Candace marched out into the backyard.

"Ferb's breaking the fourth wall"

"Ooo! I'm telling mom!" She ran in the house and you could have heard her scream in the distance "MOM! PHINEAS AND FERB ARE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!"

Phineas and Isabella shrugged before continuing to watch in anticipation as the Brit forcefully slammed a sledgehammer against the almost broken wall.

"Keep going Ferb! You're almost there!"

"Now I can get my 'I witnessed someone breaking the fourth wall patch'" Isabella said, later adding: "…Literally!"

Buford and Baljeet walked into the yard through the gate.

"Hello friends" Baljeet waved "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Ferb's breaking the fourth wall" Phineas said.

"Aiyee! You cannot do that! You must stop immediately!" Baljeet tried to stop the Brit but Phineas pulled him back.

"I don't get it, what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? Phineas, the fourth wall is what keeps US here and THEM out there!"

"Who's them?"

"The people who watch this show!"

"Nice going, nerd!" Buford said. "You were so busy trying to protect the fourth wall that you broke the fourth wall."

"Oh no! What have I done? I must get out of here, I am a disgrace to philosophy!" Baljeet screeched and ran out of the yard.

Buford shrugged "This is boring, later Dinnerbell" The bully left.

Just then a random flash of light rebuilt the broken wall.

"Wow. Bummer Ferb" Phineas frowned "And you were so close to destroying the fourth wall too, do you wanna try and build something else instead? There's a whole bunch of blueprints that we can- Ferb?"

Ferb threw the blowtorch down in frustration, stomped on it and stomped into the house. He ran upstairs and you could hear a door slam. Phineas and Isabella just stared blankly after him.

"So…" Isabella flirted. "How about a romantic dinner for two? No Zucchini's I promise" She joked.

Phineas smiled. "Sure"

"Wait what?"

"I said sure" Phineas repeated.

"Alright where's the catch?" Isabella frowned and walked up to the screen.

"What catch?"

"Every time there's a Phinebella moment on this show I always get rejected in some way, shape or form. So, where's the catch?"

"Isabella, I don't know what you're talking about." Phineas admitted with a frown.

Isabella continued to search the screen. "What's gonna happen this time? Is Ferb coming with us?"

"No-"

"Am I getting my memory wiped?"

"Isabella calm down!"

"How can I calm down when Dan Povenmire and Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh are out to ruin my love life!" Isabella cried.

"What?" Phineas exclaimed with much confusion.

"Well that's it! No more! Isabella Garcia Shapiro is out, PEACE!" She held up a peace sign and stomped out the gate.

Phineas raised an eyebrow "What is it about the fourth wall that gets people so crazy? It's the fifth wall we all should be worried about!"

Perry walked into the backyard.

"Oh there you are Perry!" Phineas picked up his pet "How was your fight with Dr. D?"

Perry chattered.

"Him too huh? It seems the fourth wall is upsetting everyone today. Someone should really do something about this…that's it! I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow!"

The platypus smiled, happy to see his owner so enthusiastic.

"I'm gonna build the fifth wall!"

Perry's smile vanished instantly.


	2. Information Negotiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phineas should really be blocked from using the internet.

Perry tried to talk his owner out of his crazy idea but once Phineas set his mind to something there was just no reasoning with him. The platypus got comfortable and settled himself in the red head's bed. Ferb was fast asleep in his bed snuggling with a sledgehammer and Phineas frantically making blueprints and typing on his computer under the dim lamp on his desk. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

* * *

 

"I have gathered you all here today to take the fourth wall to the absolute extreme, to go where no televised show or movie has ever gone before! Any questions?" Phineas asked the group, he was standing in front of a chalk board in the backyard.

The group included Perry, Candace, Ferb, Isabella, Doofenshmirtz, Baljeet and Buford. Everyone raised their hands.

"Uh, Yes Dr. D?" Phineas pointed to the scientist.

Doof put his hand down when he was picked on "Why am I here again?"

"I invited you because if I'm not mistaken, yesterday your scheme involved the fourth wall."

"Yeah but I pretty much gave up on that whole 'rebuilding the fourth wall' idea" The scientist put up quotation marks with his fingers for emphasis.

Ferb's eyes widened and he growled. Isabella and Buford had to hold him back from jumping the doctor.

"Let me explain." The red head pointed to the chalk board with a pointer to the different mathematical diagrams "Breaking the fifth wall is generally not a good thing, as it is quite difficult to repair. Large quantities of boot laces are required. In ancient times, breaking the fifth wall referred to the act of hordes of warriors breaking the walls of one's castle so they could steal the king's treasure. First they would have to break the first wall, then the second, and so forth until the fifth and final wall. Wizards were sometimes employed to keep the warriors at bay by confiscating their shoelaces. In recent times, scientists have been conducting research in attempts to discover more walls. Some say that the next one could be the ceiling, if there is one available, but there isn't yet any wide consensus on this matter. Yet another possibility for 'Breaking The Fifth Wall' might refer to an actor in a glass studio who falls out of a window and squishes on the pavement below. Therefore the Fifth Wall' would be a person's head. Additionally, while not immediately related to film, 'Breaking the Fifth Wall' refers to string theory as it applies to film plots, especially Independent films, where, should the cognitive abilities of the writer allow; expansive plots are tied together in inscrutable fashions to obscure plot-holes. While the plot holes are not actually removed, they are hidden in five-dimension Calibi-Yau spaces, which are themselves hidden in complex knots of reality. These knots only exist in 'film space', a newly discovered 12th dimension. 'Breaking the Fifth Wall' refers to mathematically proving a film is stupid by plotting the area of the obscuring Calibi-Yau space, allowing one to find the hole. Film students learn this technique at their fancy hoity-toity film schools by dissecting the seminal documentary Ghosts of Mars, which contains no less than five separate Calibi-Yau spaces as well as a triply-nested flashback sequence."

Candace raised an eyebrow "What does any of that stuff have to do with breaking a wall? If you want to break a wall so bad then just smash one in with a sledgehammer, preferably Ferb's. Someone should really take that thing away from him."

"That's just it Candace, none of that has anything to do with breaking the fifth wall! That's when I learned that Uncyclopedia is made by a bunch of sarcastic unfunny idiots stuck in a minimum wage job, so then I tried Wikipedia and I got a much better definition. The term 'fifth wall' has been used as an extension of the fourth wall concept to refer to the 'invisible wall between critics or readers and theatre practitioners.' This conception led to a series of workshops at the Globe Theatre in 2004 designed to help break the fifth wall. The term has also been used to refer to 'that semi-porous membrane that stands between individual audience members during a shared experience.' In media, the television set has been described metaphorically as a fifth wall because of how it allows a person to see beyond the traditional four walls of a room."

"So what exactly do you expect to make out of this information?" Doofenshmirtz asked "I'm an evil genius and I can't think of a single evil scheme for any of that."

"But Dr. D we aren't going to use this information for a petty evil scheme."

"Oh, well okay…wait did you just call me petty?!" The scientist narrowed his eyes and put his hands on his hips "Alright  _Mr. Smarter than thou_ , just what do you suppose we do with this information?"

"That's the part I got stuck at." Phineas rubbed the back of his neck "I was hoping you guys would think of something. Any ideas?"

"I got nothin'." Buford shrugged.

"I do not approve of this whole 'breaking the fourth wall' business." Baljeet glared "It is rather ridiculous if you ask me."

"Well no one's asking you Nerdo." Buford gave the nerd a wedgie.

"I don't know Phineas." Candace put a hand on her brother's shoulder "Maybe we shouldn't be interfering with the laws of philosophy, what if something happens?"

"Aw, let the kid have his fun." Doof waved off her words of wisdom "Whatever you're making count me in. I got nothing else better to do today anyways."

Perry chattered and crossed his arms angrily.

"Well except fight you Perry the Platypus…which I love doing!" The scientist chuckled nervously and turned to Phineas and muttered quietly "Let's hurry up and start building before that tiny platypus pummels me" Then made his voice louder "I'll go get the tools!" Doof ran in the house, followed by an angry mammal.


	3. Everything

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Doofenshmirtz looked down at the angry platypus standing cross armed next to him.

Perry shook his head 'No' and continued to glare down at the grass.

"Oh come on, you know I'd much rather fight you then build something with your stupid owners."

The mammal looked up at him with a shocked expression, and then narrowed his eyes.

"No! That came out wrong-!" The scientist tried but his nemesis walked away from him "Aw!" Doof face palmed himself repeatedly "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"May I have everyone's attention please?" Phineas called to everyone. He was standing next to a giant Bio dome "After much thinking, I finally know what we're gonna do today!"

"What are we Doooin'?" Isabella looked at her boyfriend. Ok he wasn't her boyfriend, but they've been married 42 times in her head.

"We're doing everything!"

Candace scowled and held up her cell phone "Hold on! What do you mean we're doing  _everything_?! I have a date with Jeremy so this  _everything_ …thing better not take too long!"

"Phineas." Baljeet pulled out a calculator and started pressing buttons "It is physically impossible to do everything, especially not in one day! If we were to attempt to do everything it would take us hundreds of lifetimes, and that's only if the things are legal! Jail is something, you know."

"And I thought you already made the whole Bio dome thing!" Candace put her hands on her hips.

"Allow me to explain." Phineas started "Dr. D, Ferb and I managed to rebuild the Bio dome AND we modified it. Well Dr. D added the inator part…So, behold! The Bio Dome-inator!"

"But Phineas." Isabella looked uncertain "Why did you rebuild the Bio Dome?"

" _Inator!"_

She sighed at the doctor "Fine, why'd you rebuild the Bio Dome- _inator_? I thought we were breaking the fifth wall."

"We are." Phineas smiled.

"But why-"

"I wasn't done explaining, we're going to break the fifth wall by doing everything."

Candace raised an eyebrow and shook her head "You've completely lost me."

Phineas sighed "Remember those really long definitions I gave last chapter?"

"Yes and you just broke the fourth wall." Baljeet pointed out.

"Yes I did but isn't that what we're trying to accomplish here?"

"Hey Dinnerbell." Buford said "I thought we were breaking the fifth wall."

"Ah but in order to break the fifth one, don't we have to get through the fourth?"

"I guess that makes sense…" Candace trailed off "But what does doing everything have to do with breaking a wall?"

"It has everything to do with it Candace! We're going to break the fifth wall by doing everything those definitions said."

"Everything?"

"Everything!"

"How long will that take exactly?" The orange haired teen asked.

"So let me get this straight." Baljeet counted on his fingers "We are going to break down the wall of a castle to get a king's treasure, become wizards and steal shoelaces, push an actor out of a window, find some knots in the 12th Dimension, learn how to prove a film is stupid by going to a film school and watching a science fiction action horror film, bring a bunch of people into our world and last but not least, destroy a television set. Did I get all that correctly?"

"Pretty much." Phineas shrugged.

"Ok. I'm going home." Baljeet waved and everyone started to clear out of the backyard.

"Wait! Hear me out!" The young inventor stopped them and some inspirational music started to play in the background "The fourth wall has taken its toll on every single one of you. Don't you want revenge? Dr. D you should know all about revenge, you try to get it every day! Well this is your one chance to finally get revenge on something without Perry trying to stop you. Don't you want that? One victory out of hundreds?"

Doofenshmirtz glanced sadly at Perry who immediately looked away from him.

"Ferb, bro! This is all you! You want this more than anyone else here does. You are going to OWN that wall."

The brit put on a battle helmet and dramatically raised his sledgehammer.

"And Baljeet." Phineas turned to the dark haired boy "Do you want to be a disgrace to philosophy forever?"

Baljeet glanced off to the side.

"And Isabella, you say your love life is being ruined. Don't you want to do something about it?"

The pink clad girl looked determined "Yes! Yes I do!"

"And Candace, Mom said the fifth wall doesn't exist. Don't you want to prove her wrong for once?"

"Yes, yes I most certainly do!" Candace glared.

"And Buford, don't you want to push an actor out a window?"

Buford's eyes widened and lit up "Yes….yes I do."

"So who's with me?"

Everyone cheered and Perry chattered, the record scratched and the music stopped as he looked at his owner expectantly.

"Oh right…well…you can make sure no one gets hurt and that Dr. D stays in line."

The scientist scoffed "Like I need anyone to keep  _me_ in line, no one can stop me from doing what I want! Especially not a stupid animal! Haha! ...Wait…" Doof's eyes widened and Perry continued to glare at him "No! You're not stupid! That's not what I meant to-" The platypus marched away from him "Oh Great! Nice job Heinz! Dumkopf!" Doofenshmirtz paused and then started slamming his head against the tree in frustration.

Everyone ignored this while Phineas began explaining the new functions of the Biosphere.

"Instead of it just making different climates, we modified it to make different realities. It can make anywhere we want or imagine. Here, allow me to demonstrate." Phineas pressed a button on the remote and the door opened. The kids and platypus started following him inside, he called to the doctor. "You coming Dr. D?"

Doofenshmirtz stopped assaulting his brain and ran after them "Coming!" The door closed behind him.

* * *

"Uh Phineas? This is the backyard." Candace said as they all looked around at the green grass and big tree.

"Yep." Phineas smiled.

"I thought we were going to test it out."

"We are."

"But we're still in the backyard."

"I know, when I thought of a place I thought of the backyard. Isn't it great guys? It looks JUST like it." The red head beamed proudly.

Everyone shook their heads at the boy and Ferb snatched the remote. He pressed the button and the world around them transformed. Two large castles appeared on either side and the whole place looked like it would in medieval times.

"BATTLE STATIONS!" Irving screamed.

"Irving?" Isabella stared at the weird boy.

"Hey I know you!" Doofenshmirtz glared down at the boy "You peed on my couch!"

Irving glared back "You deserved it!"


	4. Tralfaz?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The word somehow explains everything.

The children laughed hysterically at what they had just heard, except for Doofenshmirtz who just scowled at the M. Irving didn't laugh and continued to glare at the doctor.

"Look, it's enough that Perry the Platypus peed on my couch once! But you're a human! Don't you think that's a  _little_ …I don't know…COMPLETELY INSANE?!"

"No, no I don't! It was very justified if you ask me!" Irving crossed his arms.

"Oooof course it was, kid!"

Candace muffled her laughter with her hand and quiets herself down enough to actually speak "Ok I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I want to hear THAT backstory."

"Really?" Heinz asked "Normally when I start a backstory you're the first one to tell me to shut up, why do you all of a sudden want to hear this one?"

"Because this one actually sounds interesting."

"Gee thanks." The scientist rolled his eyes.

"Let's face it Heinz, you're a cry baby. Waaaaaaah! My parents hate me! The other ocelots made fun of me! I'm not sure if I hate Christmas or not! My wife divorced me!"

"You know what, just for that I'm not going to tell it." Doof crossed his arms and turned away from her.

"Oh come on Dr. D!" Phineas begged "The rest of us really want to hear it. What's one person to seven?"

"Well actually it's  _six_." Irving pointed out "I don't need to hear it because I was there."

"Pleeeeaaaase Dr. D?" The young inventor gave him puppy eyes.

"No way Phineas, Vanessa tries that on me all the time and…I always give in…"

"This time shouldn't be any different then." Phineas made the eyes bigger and Doof finally gave in.

"Alright! Alright! Alright! Fine! Just put those things away before you hurt someone, they're very powerful."

Phineas and Ferb bumped fists.

"Have you ever thought of using those eyes for evil? I could use them in a scheme if you-"

Candace blew a raspberry "No offence Heinz but I don't think my brother wants to look like the other you."

Everyone glared at her and Baljeet elbowed her.

"Ow! What?" The teen rubbed her arm and the Indian boy pointed to her brother, her glare instantly softened.

Phineas looked down at the ground sadly. Ferb put a hand on his brother's shoulder and Perry chattered, walking up to put a hand on his arm. The platypus smiled at him and the boy attempted to smile back but it didn't come easily.

"Phineas I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." Candace apologized.

"I'm sorry too Phineas." Doofenshmirtz told him.

"It's not your fault you guys, I just wish we could have done something to-"

"There's nothing anyone could have done." Isabella walked up to put a hand on his shoulder "I bet if there was something we could have done it would have been an excellent plan because you would have come up with it. You're brilliant and can fix any situation if you put your mind to it."

"Yeah." Everyone murmured in agreement.

Phineas cheered up almost instantly "Thanks guys…now let's hear that backstory! You know…if you're up to it Dr. D"

"Of course! Let's see…" Doofenshmirtz rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers "Alright so I was getting up to get a glass of water late at night when…" His voice trailed off as the flashback appeared, dimly.

_Doofenshmirtz was getting up from his bed late at night to get a glass of water when he heard some weird noises. He shut off the tap and pulled the glass out from under the faucet. He listened more closely and concluded that the noise was indeed coming from the room he had his couch in. Why he kept his couch where he built things, he had no idea and why he even KEPT that couch that Perry peed on…actually he knew why. Perry the Platypus refused to let him throw it out and buy a new one because 'a little accident on the couch wouldn't hurt anyone', apparently. Also, Heinz didn't want the platypus to feel subconscious if he got rid of it so he washed the cushion and the couch stayed._

_Anyways…he walked out of the kitchen and into his lab, he flipped the light switch and screamed at the sight. There was a boy, A LITTLE BOY…_ _**peeing** _ _on his couch. The boy screamed along with him, covering his eyes instead of being normal and covering…down there._

_Heinz covered his eyes and continued screaming at the top of his lungs, Irving did the same. They both screamed, eyes closed and one of them pants down for about three minutes. After the screaming was over, they both took a deep breath and uncovered their eyes. They locked glances and the same cycle continued for another three minutes. The two screamed and covered their eyes, Irving made his scream louder and still didn't pull his pants up or even bother to cover himself- well…you know down there._

_Finally Doofenshmirtz screamed out some actual words "What are you doing?!"_

_Irving screamed a reply "I was peeing on your couch!"_

" _Why?!"_

" _Because!"_

" _Pull your pants up!" Heinz demanded, still covering his eyes. "I don't want to see…that- well that!"_

_The boy refused and crossed his arms, not caring about flashing the poor doctor. "No." He said in defiance._

" _Well at least hide yourself behind the couch!" Doofenshmirtz pleaded, peeking through his fingers so he could see ONLY the boys top half of his body._

" _Fine, but that's all the sympathy you're getting from me!" Irving hopped off the couch he was standing on- much to Heinz dismay- and stood behind the arm rest of the couch so only his top half was showing._

_The scientist sighed in relief and uncovered his eyes. "Glad that heart attack is over…now, would you mind telling me WHY YOU'RE_ _**NAKED** _ _IN MY HOUSE?!"_

" _That statement is irrelevant! I'm only half naked!"_

" _Will you at least tell me why you're peeing on my couch? How did you even get in here anyways?"_

" _I don't believe that's any of your business!" The boy snapped._

" _None of my business? You snuck into my house and you're naked-"_

" _Half naked!"_

" _HALF naked and I walked in on you PEEING on my couch. You also refuse to pull your pants back up. HOW IS THAT NOT MY BUSINESS?! Okay maybe the last one isn't my business…" He paused. "But you're still naked-"_

" _Half naked!"_

" _HALF NAKED IN MY HOUSE...what do you have to say for yourself?"_

" _Tralfaz."_

" _Tralfaz?"_

" _Yeah, Tralfaz!"_

"… _okay."_

" _And I don't have to explain myself to you! Irving is out, PEACE!" Irving held up a peace sign and stormed out from behind the couch and through the front door, still not bothering to pull his pants up._

_Doofenshmirtz grimaced and covered his eyes with a disgusted moan "Oh the humanity!"_

 

The flashback ended, showing a scowling Doofenshmirtz in the present.

"And I  _still_ don't know why he peed on my couch…I don't know what tralfaz means either. I looked it up online and even in the dictionary too! I'm starting to think that it isn't even a real word…"

Perry rolled his eyes and the scientist glared at him.

"Quiet you!" Heinz pointed at the mammal "You still aren't excused for what you did last year! I still remember! I'll come to YOUR house and pee on YOUR couch! Let's see how you like it!"

Phineas coughed awkwardly "Um Dr. D?"

"Hold on a second! I'm not finished!" Doof continued to glare at his nemesis "And I won't just pee on your couch. I'll pee on everything!"

"Dr. D..." Phineas tried again.

"I will pee on EVERYTHING IN YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE! HAHAHAHAHA-"

"DR. D!" The red head yelled and the scientist flinched.

"What?"

"You do realize that Perry lives with me and Ferb right? And…in order to do-…what you just threatened…you'd need A LOT of-" The rest was muffled when Isabella covered his mouth and spoke up.

"I think what Phineas is trying to say is…that would be REALLY REALLY awkward and he'd  _appreciate it_ if you didn't…release yourself…all over his house…" She said the last part slowly and awkwardly. "Right?" The girl turned to the young inventor who nodded "Yeah. I'm right. Great, now that this… _interesting_ conversation is over. Let's choose teams!" Isabella uncovered Phineas' mouth and he took over from there.

"Alright guys let's split into teams. Team one will consist of me, Ferb, Dr. D, Perry and Isabella. Team two will be Baljeet, Buford, Candace and Irving. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Buford raised his hand "How come your team has more members than ours, huh?"

"Looks like there was a minor miscount…anyone want to sit this first one out? I promise they'll get a bigger part in the next task we do."

The platypus chattered and raised his hand, slowly making his way over to a bale of hay. He sat down on it and rested his chin on his hand, looking glum.

Phineas glanced at his pet sadly and excused himself and Ferb for a moment, dragging Doof into a nearby abandoned medieval shop.

"Ow! What?" Heinz asked once they were inside.

Phineas did not look pleased "I don't know what you did to make our platypus so sad but you better fix it!"

"I'm trying! I don't know what I did! He's been upset with me all day!"

"Well you better fix this by the end of the day  _or else_."

"Or else what?" Doofenshmirtz glanced into the boys eyes and flinched, flashbacks from that day sometime last year flooded his thoughts. Those kids broke nearly all his limbs that day…and a few of his ribs. Heinz gulped. "Point taken."

The red headed boy nodded seeing that they had an understanding; he continued "You're excused from all the tasks except one; your only task is to make up with Perry. Got it?"

"I'll try but it won't be easy…" Doof rubbed the back of his neck and flinched when the kid stepped forward.

"Just make it happen." Phineas shook his head and walked out of the old abandoned store.

Ferb followed and made the 'I'm watching you' notion before leaving. Doofenshmirtz gave and exasperated sigh when they left.

"Great." He told himself "I have to make Perry the Platypus happy by sundown or else I'm a dead evil scientist…what could  _possibly_  go wrong for me?"

* * *

"Change of plans." Phineas told the teams "Dr. D isn't participating with us so Irving you're on our team…"

"Hey Dinnerbell! That's not fair! We're back to where we started, you still have more people!"

"Hey guys!" Jeremy waved, holding a picnic basket on his arm.

"Jeremy?" Candace walked up to her boyfriend "What are you doing here?"

"I came to pick you up for our date but I saw that you guys rebuilt the Bio dome, so I figured since we had so much fun last time…why don't we do it again? Who knows? Maybe I could even say what I like about you this time." He stared at her dreamily and she blushed.

"Works for us." Phineas shrugged. "Jeremy you're on Team two."

"Sweet." The blond teen shrugged as well.

"On your marks…" The young inventor held up his arm and Ferb held up a red flag. "Get set…" Everyone got ready and the Brit held the flag up higher. "GO!" Phineas waved down his arm and Ferb waved the flag down. It miraculously turned green within the final wave and everyone ran to their team's castle.

The first task had begun.


	5. Wait what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or maybe we need more clarification.

"So…" Isabella batted her eyelashes at the young inventor. They were on the top of the concrete castle, looking out for anything that could happen while they weren't looking. "What are you planning to do after we're finished breaking the wall? Maybe we could go get a pizza or something-"

"We could ask my mom if we can order pizza so we can all celebrate together!" Phineas took his eyes out of the binoculars and smiled at her "Great idea Isabella!" Then he turned back to looking out.

"Yeah sure…no prob…" She sighed and looked at the love of her life. "No! This is a prob!" She screamed, the boy took no notice to this and she stomped away. "FERB! Battle stations!"

Ferb gave a thumbs up and loaded the cannons.

"Irving! Where are you?!"

"Right here." Irving leaned casually against the wall.

Isabella stared at him "…Why is your fly down?"

* * *

"So…" Candace bit her lip and looked off to the side.

"Yeah?" Jeremy smiled at her. They were sitting across from each other on a red checkered blanket on the dusty concrete floor.

"I was wondering what it is you like about- HORROR!" She screamed and jumped on top of him when the sound of a cannon blasted in her ears. The castle shook and crumbled from the impact. The teen chuckled nervously and got off her boyfriend, walking away from him. "BALJEET! Keep it down will ya? I'm  _TRYING_ to have a romantic picnic with Jeremy!" She found the small boy desperately trying to light a match, not taking notice that she was right behind him. "BALJEET!"

Baljeet jumped and dropped the match he was holding. It dropped to the floor and the small flame faded out. He stared down at it sadly and sighed. They jumped as another cannon blasted into their castle shaking the structure.

"Knock it off!" She screamed.

"That is not me! That is Team One firing at us."

"Well why are they doing that? Tell them to cut it out or else I'm calling mom!"

"Candace, you do know that this is a battle right? We are currently in the middle of a small war and I can't get a match lit long enough to return fire. They have already broken one of our five walls. I could use some assistance."

"Well I'm busy! Why don't you ask Buford to help you?"

"I do not know where he is! I need your help! I can't possibly win this battle by myself! We are going to lose if we don't return fire right away!"

"Hey Candace, I was wondering when we were going to finish our picnic?" Jeremy pointed and then took notice of the Indian boy standing next to her "Hey Baljeet, what's wrong?"

"Well, we are currently losing this battle because no one on the team wants to help me return fire and one of our walls are already broken-" BOOM! "Make that two..."

"Oh, well I'll help!"

"But Jeremy, what about our picnic?" Candace asked.

"As soon as we win this battle we'll continue our date and besides, walls can't break themselves right?"

Baljeet spoke up "Well actually they can, but that would be called erosion. Erosion can take place anywhere from 5 minutes to millions and millions of years but the way I see it, we don't even have 5 minutes until this whole place comes crashing down on top of us!"

The blond teen picked up the matches and lit a match with ease, lighting the cannon making it fired with a loud BOOM!

"Hey." Buford came from out of nowhere "What'd I miss?"

"Buford." Candace nodded at him "You and Baljeet go find more cannon balls."

"Alright." The husky boy walked off, Baljeet following close behind him.

Finally they were alone once again, she could now ask him!

"So Jeremy…I was wondering what exactly it is you like about- Heinz, what are you doing here?"

The scientist who had been caught sneaking into the castle, sheepishly walked out in front of the couple "Hey guys…"

"I thought you were supposed to be making Perry feel better."

"I was but I don't know why he's upset! I wish there was just some way I could figure out what's bothering him so I could fix it, but I couldn't and I can't read his mind. So I was going to find a way out of this dome and hopefully catch a bus ride to Mexico."

"Why Mexico?"

"So those two boys won't kill me! They're evil! Evil I tell you and they're out to get me!"

"My brothers aren't evil; they just hate seeing Perry so upset that's all."

"Maybe you're right…"

"Plus, do you actually think a wired fence will stop Ferb? And even if it does, they could just build another teleporter and teleport you to the backyard."

Doof gulped.

"No wait that doesn't make any sense…"

He sighed in relief.

"They'd teleport themselves to Mexico and kill you there." She didn't notice his horrified expression and continued "That way they'd avoid the authorities. Yeah that makes much more sense, they'd do that…but wouldn't they need to bring a teleporter there in order for it to work? Then they'd already be there…oh whatever. Just forget I ever said anything." Candace waved it off and continued loading the cannon.

When he was far enough away so he could only slightly hear the cannons firing off, he stopped walking and pulled out the magazine Candace had in her back pocket. He leaned up against the wall and began to read it. If he was dead at sundown then he'd commit a final act of evil. His parents had always forbidden him to read magazines, but they bought Rodger a full subscription every year! He'd read this magazine and it'd be like dancing on their grave (Which he may have wanted to do one day as another evil act) but if he was going to die before them then this small act of defiance to them would have to do.

He read more and was both intrigued and horrified by what he was reading. "What? No! It can't be true!" The scientist found out why Perry was so upset and why their relationship was so strained lately. He couldn't fight the words he read and there was no one to argue with. The magazine was right and he had no one to tell him otherwise. He just automatically assumed the statement was true. Propaganda was a powerful thing after all, people believed anything they read. He knew that because he read it somewhere. There was no fighting the print.

He and Perry the Platypus were in love!


	6. Pairings all around! :D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We need some love on this ride...

He and Perry the Platypus were in love! How could he have not seen it before? It was so obvious that it was hidden from his view. That's why their relationship was strained right now and that's why his nemesis was so upset!

The platypus was upset because he felt that his feelings were unnoticed and he was depressed because of it; and their relationship was strained because he was too oblivious to return Perry's feelings. Of course that was it! It made perfect sense…to him at least, but there was still that one question.

Did he return the feelings and love the animal back?

Well according to this magazine they've been dating for the past five years and he just hadn't realized it. How do you not notice you're destined to be in a relationship with someone? He had to be the most oblivious male inventor in the whole world!

* * *

 

Phineas continued to stare out at the horizon through his binoculars, he didn't notice that he was facing the wrong way and the battle was taking place behind him. How that boy managed to not notice flying and booming cannons and crumbling walls, no one knows. Isabella walked over to him, clearly not pleased.

"Um, Watcha Doin?"

"Keeping watch." The boy responded, taking his eyes out of the binoculars to talk to her and then putting them back to where they were the entire time this battle was happening. "I think they're ready to forfeit. They haven't fired a single cannon yet."

The girl rolled her eyes as another cannon ball fired into their castle, crumbling some walls. "Uh Phineas?"

"Yeah?"

"…Did uh…did anyone drop you while you were a baby?"

"My aunt did once, why?"

Another cannon flew straight over their heads "Oh…no reason…"

* * *

 

"This is so cool! It's just like a real war! You're brothers are amazing, Candace!"

"Yep…that's what they are…" She scratched the back of her head and tried to sound more enthusiastic "So on our last picnic in here, you never really got to tell me what you liked about me."

"Oh yeah, I didn't." He loaded the cannon with their last cannon ball.

"So I was wondering…if…maybe you could tell me now?" Candace grinned.

"Of course! Um…let me think…oh yeah! What I like about you is-"

Buford and Baljeet came back empty handed. The smaller boy explained for both of them "I am sorry, we could not find any cannonballs."

"OH COME ON!" Candace screamed and slammed her fist down on the cannon. It fired and the cannonball flew off course. "Whoops…"

* * *

 

Isabella stared at the clueless boy. Why couldn't he for once take notice of her? Why did she have to  _fight_ for his attention all the time? And even when she won it, it only lasted for so long. She was sick of it and she didn't know whether to blame the imaginary wall or herself. Maybe she wasn't trying hard enough…but what did she have to do? Did she have to get hit by a  _cannonball_ to gain his affection?

I am not sorry to say that that is exactly what happened. She heard the sound of another cannon being fired and she suddenly heard this  _whoosh_ behind her. She turned around just in time to see a large black ball hit her straight in the stomach. It knocked her back into the wall, it cracked behind her as she slid to the ground just a few feet away from the young inventor. This didn't go unnoticed by Phineas, he turned and screamed.

"ISABELLA!" He ran over to her and lifted her head. "Isabella! Are you alright?"

Isabella opened her eyes and everything slowly started to come into focus. The first thing she saw was Phineas over her and she sighed happily. She had finally had his attention for more than a second. It was nice while it lasted though. Her head was dropped carelessly and made a thud against the old concrete. "Ow!" She squealed and rubbed her head, sitting up to watch Phineas stomp away from her.

Ferb was aiming a cannon when he was roughly shoved aside by his step-brother. He fell off the castle and landed unharmed in a wooden cart of hay. He watched his brother silently from down below. What the devil has gotten into him?

Phineas stopped thinking reasonably and a furious expression was plastered across his face. He shoved Ferb out of the way and aimed the cannon on his own. He lit the fuse and fired at the rival castle, he didn't know why or what he was doing but he couldn't stop himself. He was way too angry, in fact he was way  _past_ angry. He was  _furious_. The cannonball flew through the air, headed straight for Baljeet, Buford, Candace and Jeremy's castle.

* * *

 

Doofenshmirtz watched the glum looking Perry from around a corner. How was he going to do this? How did you show someone you cared about them? He's been out of the game for so long that he wasn't even sure he knew how to play anymore. He decided he'd just wing it as he went along so he hesitantly walked over and sat beside him on the crate. The platypus stared at him in a very awkward silence.

"You're so cute when you're confused."

What?

* * *

 

A loud boom and the sound of hard rocks shattering and crumbling to the ground, filled the dome. Team Two's castle was completely destroyed, the members climbed out of the wreckage. No one seemed that upset, well…except for Candace.

"PHINEAS AND FERB! YOU GUYS ARE SO BUSTED!"

* * *

 

"Phineas, you did it!" Isabella hugged him "We won! You also avenged me! It was like a dream come true!"

Phineas looked confused and a little dazed, haven broken out of his anger induced trance. "What did I do again?"

She pulled back from the hug with her eyes narrowed, she sighed "Nothing, nothing at all."

"Isabella, my head hurts. What just happened?"

"I fired a cannon and it destroyed their castle."

"Oh…Good for you!"

"Yup…good for me…"

* * *

 

"Alright gang, we finished the first task so now we have to get through the second." Phineas told them. "We have to become wizards and steal shoelaces."

Candace looked around "Am I the only one who thinks that this makes absolutely no sense?" No one answered her and her brother went onward.

"So if everyone would please put on these costumes that Ferb is currently unloading as I speak-" He looked at Ferb who was indeed unloading a crate full of costumes using a forklift. "Then we can begin our next task."

The crate was spilled over and on the ground was purple cloaks and wands and fake beards and sneakers. Everyone went through the box and was given a costume. They all either had wands and purple hats/cloaks with white stars or sneakers. The wizard costumes included a fake and itchy white beard. They were suited up and ready to start the next event.

* * *

 

Doof scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The compliments didn't seem to be working at all. Phineas appeared and threw a costume on each of them. The platypus had a beard and wand and the scientist had a pair of sneakers on that basically looked just like his regular shoes.

"We had two extra costumes and I didn't want to waste them." The boy shrugged and then walked away, elbowing the doctor in the ribs to let him know that their deal still stood.

Heinz rubbed the sore spot and looked back down at the mammal sitting by his side. "That beard makes you look sophisticated."

The animal gave him a 'really' look and snatched the beard from his face, tossing it aside and putting his face in his hands.

* * *

 

"We're going to split into Teams again for this task." Phineas told them "We're separating into wizards and people with shoelaces. Our team- team one –will be the people with shoelaces and team two will be the wizards. The wizards have to try and get the shoelaces. If all shoelaces are stolen then team two wins and if the shoelaces remain on their wearers feet then team one wins. Everyone got that? It's like tag mixed with hide and seek mixed with wizards and shoelaces."

The children nodded and murmured agreements.

"Great! Go!"

* * *

 

"I like the way you punch me in the face…?" Doofenshmirtz chuckled, trying again.

* * *

 

Phineas and Isabella hid behind some crates.

"They'll never find us here!" The boy smiled proudly.

The girl face palmed and shook her head.

"What?" He asked "Why the face palm?"

Isabella pointed to Buford who was right in front of them.

"Run!" Phineas yelled, grabbing her hand and leading her away from the bully. He didn't notice the dreamy sigh she gave as they fled together.

* * *

 

"Why did you not take their shoelaces when you had the chance?!" Baljeet scolded the rotund boy.

Buford pushed him out of the way "I don't see  _you_ doing anything nerdo!"

* * *

 

Ferb hid silently behind a barrel, watching and waiting. He jumped and spun around when he was tapped on the shoulder by someone.

"Hey Ferb!"

"Vanessa?" The brit stared at her. They really needed to learn how to lock their inventions.

"What's up?"

The boy pointed behind them at Irving getting his shoelaces ripped off by Buford. The teen laughed "So it's like hide and seek mixed with tag mixed with wizards and shoelaces then?"

Ferb nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her from behind the wooden barrel. She heard a voice and pulled both of them back behind it.

"Shoot! My dad's here?"

Again, Ferb nodded.

"He thinks I'm in summer school right now! If he sees me then I'm dead! I better go-" Vanessa turned to find the exit, the boy pulled her back.

"I'll help you hide from him and then you could say you just got here when we're done. I'm sure your classes will be over by then."

"You know what? I'd like that. So where do I hide so he won't find me in here?"

"I'll hide with you."

"Won't Phineas and everyone else be looking for you?" She asked as they walked away hand in hand.

"They'll never know I'm gone." He replied, placing a fedora on his head.

_Ferb!_ Sang some female singers.

* * *

 

"I keep trying to ask you something and just when you're about to give the answer we always get cut off, so this time I have taken every precaution necessary. Which is why we're hiding up in team one's castle. No one will be able to interrupt us up here."

"But Candace we're supposed to be helping Baljeet and Buford get all the shoelaces." Jeremy frowned.

"They can handle it!" She waved it off and got down to business "So, what do you like about me?"

_"All throughout history men fall in love with women_

_You want to know why, well, let's start from the beginning_

_I've come to set the record straight-!"_

"…You can't make this easy can you?"

* * *

 

"Will you stop fooling around?" Baljeet put his hands on his hips "We need to focus on the task at hand here, you know."

Buford rolled his eyes and let go of Irving's underwear. The boy fell to the ground with a pained groan, not being able to feel his groin properly.

* * *

 

"I love your tail Perry the Platypus, it's just so soft and- and orange. Just like your freaky duck bill! I like that too! …Wait! No-! It- It's not freaky at all-! I-… _ugh_!"

* * *

 

Phineas and Isabella kept running for their lives- better yet their shoelaces. The girl was panting.

"Phineas, c-can we slow down just a bit? They're not behind us anymore!"

His sneakers skidded to a stop and they both tried to catch their breath "Sorry Isabella, I guess I just got carried away trying to keep them away from you."

Wait what? "Wait what?" She blinked "What do you mean trying to keep them away from me?"

"If they catch you they'll try and take your shoelaces right?"

"Yeah?"

"They'll do anything to get those shoelaces! Even tackling you or throwing you down! I wouldn't be able watch that happen, heck I'd hate to see  _anything_ bad happen to you Isabella! I just wouldn't be able to take it…" He trailed off.

Isabella stared at him. Did he really just say what she thought he just said? Eeee! She squealed in her head.

"I guess that's kind of stupid, huh?" Phineas looked down and kicked a rock.

She hugged him and he looked shocked "Of course it isn't Phineas! It's beautiful! It's like I'm in Phineasland for real!"

"Okay good…" He smiled and then frowned "Wait what?"

* * *

 

Ferb and Vanessa sat on the concrete floor alone.

"This is the perfect hiding spot Ferb! My dad won't find me up here!"

The boy gave her a thumbs up and a cheesy grin.

She nodded and looked around "So…what do you want to do?"

Ferb was pretty sure he felt his heart skip a beat.

* * *

 

_"If you want to know sincerely_

_Listen up, I'll tell you clearly_

_What I like about you is-!"_

* * *

 

"Sooooooo…" Doofenshmirtz stretched the word "What do you want to do?"

Perry looked up at him, grabbing his hand and leading him away. Doof smiled, now they were getting somewhere!

* * *

 

Isabella continued hugging the boy of her dreams, to her surprise he hadn't pulled away yet. Phineas held the girl, silently playing with her hair. They were hugging for a while and should have separated by now but…he didn't want to. Does that sound crazy? He just didn't want to let go. He just wanted to continue holding her and he didn't know why he felt this way. Phineas could tell that neither of them were separating any time soon so he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of their embrace. He heard a twig snap and his eyes shot open just in time.

"Isabella, look out!" Phineas pushed her out of the hug and he was knocked to the ground, all the air was pushed out of his lungs.

"Phineas!" She yelled and then glared in another direction "You'll pay for that Buford!" Isabella was about to run after him when her hand was grabbed.

"N-no Isabella! Save yourself! It's…too late for me…"

She gasped when she looked down at his feet. His shoelaces were gone! "I won't leave you here!"

"I'll be fine…just…" Phineas' eyes widened when he saw Buford coming back around "Run Isabella! RUN!"

She did as she was told and ran for the life of her shoelaces. The rotund boy stepped over him to chase after her. There was no way they were getting to Isabella! They'd have to get through him first! He grabbed Buford's leg and hung on, not letting go no matter how much the bully tried to shake free.

* * *

 

"Do you hear that?" Vanessa asked him and put a hand to her ear to be able to hear more "It sounds like singing…"

Ferb put his hand to his ear also, nodding. Someone was indeed singing.

* * *

 

_"I've come to set the record straight…_

_I've come to set the record straight…_

_From scientific propagation of the species_

_To poets and philosophers, your Baudelaires and Nietzsches_

_I've come to set the record straight…_

_I've come to set the record straight!"_

* * *

 

"What are you doing this time Buford?"

"Shut up and help me with this!" The large boy lifted the cannon from out of the wreckage of their castle. Baljeet ran over to help him, it was heavy but with both of them lifting it they were able to completely pull it out and place it standing on the dirt. "I saw some shadows in the other castle, we can draw them out with this."

"I don't think that is such a good idea. What if someone gets hurt?"

"Dinnerbell didn't ask that question when he destroyed our castle…with us inside of it!"

"Good point."

"Help me aim it!"

* * *

 

"SHUT UP!" Candace screamed, making her boyfriend jump back and stop singing "I- I mean…look that song's really nice and all but can you  _just_ tell me why you like me?"

"Sure." Jeremy shrugged "The thing I like about you is…"

"Yes? Yes? What is it?!" She screamed in anticipation.

"Is…" He opened his mouth to speak but instead of a reason, out came the sound of rumbling and rocks cracking. The structure shook and it started to collapse.

"PHINEAS AND FERB!"

* * *

 

"Woah!" Vanessa exclaimed when the castle started shaking, Ferb grabbed her hand and they both began running to the exit.

* * *

 

Phineas soon joined everyone, staring at the second destroyed castle. "What happened?"

"PHINEAS!" Candace yelled and pushed herself from under a large piece of rock. She grabbed her brother's collar and brought him up to eye level, shaking him roughly "What is the meaning of this? Are you  _trying_ to kill me you little psycho!" Patches of her hair was missing and she had a number sign scar on her left cheek, that and her clothes were badly torn.

Jeremy walked out of the rubble looking completely fine except for a small cut on his forehead that was barely noticeable. Of course Candace took notice to this though, treating it like it was worse than her obviously and painfully noticeable injuries. She carelessly dropped her brother on the ground and ran to him.

"Jeremy! Oh my gosh, you're hurt! Phineas, when mom hears about you injuring my boyfriend you are gonna be SO busted!"

The young inventor shrugged "I didn't knock down the castle."

"If you didn't then who did?"

Phineas was about to answer when something way more important came to his mind, wait make that  _someone_. "Isabella! Where's Isabella?!"

"I'm right here." She came out of nowhere, smiling at him.

The boy sighed in relief.

"We won! In your face losers! Buford won! Woo-hoo!" Buford cheered.

"Not so fast!" Phineas glared "You didn't get Isabella's shoelaces. Therefore you lose!" He crossed his arms smugly.

"Actually Phineas…" Isabella looked down to her lace-less shoes and the boy followed her gaze, gasping. She sadly nodded.

"That's okay Isabella, winning doesn't matter right? As long as we all had fun and- Hey, Where's Ferb?" He looked around for his step-brother and so did everyone else.

" _Ahem…_ "

All pairs of eyes turned to the sight of the green haired boy, shoelaces intact and standing alone. Ferb stood in triumph.

"This is an outrage! I demand a rematch!" The bully demanded.

"Sorry Buford, we don't have time for a rematch. We have to get through with the other tasks and now that this is over, we have to start task number three!" Phineas smiled.

"What's task number three?" Candace crossed her arms, uninterested and magically healed as if a castle didn't come crashing down on top of her.

"Pushing an actor out a window!" The smile didn't fade on the optimistic boy.

"Where are we going to find an actor?"

Her brother rubbed his chin in thought "We could have someone pretend to be an actor and then push them out a window."

"But who here would voluntarily get pushed out a window?"

There was the sound of a flush and Doofenshmirtz and Perry walked into the scene, Doof scowled at the animal "You know when I asked what you wanted to do, I didn't think of 'going to the bathroom' as an activity! I'm just happy I didn't have to go in there with you! THAT would have been awkward, you know unless you're  _in_ to that sort of thing…are you?"

Perry shook his head no.

"I didn't think so…" Heinz noticed everyone staring and smiling at him "What? Why're you all looking at me like that?"

Candace smirked "This just got interesting."


	7. No way! I am NOT updating right now!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...is what I said before I updated this.

"No way! I am  _not_ doing this!"

"Oh come on Dr. D! It's for the cause!" Phineas told him, they were standing on top of a tall building completely made of glass. Just another function of the dome.

"Yeah Heinz…" Candace snickered "Take one for the team."

Doofenshmirtz glared at her skeptically "You want me to ' _take one for the team_ ', by allowing myself to be pushed out of a five story  _window_. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

The red haired boy nodded, not really seeing the problem "Yeah. I don't see what the big deal is." He shrugged.

" _You don't see what the big deal is?!"_ The scientist looked at the boy like he was utterly insane "YOU WANT ME TO ALLOW MYSELF TO BE PUSHED OUT A WINDOW! HOW DO YOU NOT SEE SOMETHING HORRIBLY WRONG WITH THIS?!"

"If you don't stop yelling at my brother, I'll push you myself!" Candace yelled at him and he apologized.

"Look Phineas…" He sighed "I know you kind of have your heart set on destroying this metaphorical wall but…this is insane. I could die. Do you want me to die, Phineas? Huh? Do you?"

"Of course not!" Phineas defended "What on earth would make you think that?"

"Well…you want me to fall off of a building. Call me crazy but that's normally what a murderer wants to do or something I can picture Rodney wanting to do. You're not evil or a killer, are you? Or both?"

"No…"

"Then please don't make me fall off this building."

"Dr. D, you'll be fine! I promise! Look!" The boy held his hand and led him to the edge of the building to peer over "Ferb's down there with a giant inflatable bag." –and sure enough, Ferb was down below jumping on a pump to fill the bag up- "As long as you hit that target down there, you'll be fine." –Ferb painted a red 'X' on the bag and gave a thumbs up. Phineas began walking away from the doctor.

Doofenshmirtz turned around cautiously "…What if I  _don't_ hit the X?"

The boy got to the glass elevator and it dinged as it opened, him stepping inside. "Then you're screwed." He shrugged as the transparent doors closed. He and Perry descended down and the platypus looked at him with concern before they both lowered to the next floor. Keep in mind that the entire building was glass and see through so you could see anyone on any floor they're on no matter what.

The scientist called down to them "Who's pushing me again?"

Phineas smirked and pointed behind him. Doof turned around and was met by a smirking red haired teenage girl. Well, if he survived this then he made a mental note to tell Phineas that he had his sister's smirk. He backed away from her as she slowly closed the gap.

Perry bit his index finger, he felt nervous and anxious and dreadful and he thought he was about to puke.

"Perry? Hey boy, are you okay?" Phineas put a hand on his pet's shoulder, concern etched across his face.

The platypus nodded, swallowing what was once in his stomach. He was fine. But Heinz wasn't…

* * *

 

"Wait!" Doof flinched, he was crouched into a ball at the edge of the building. Candace stood over him with her foot lifted back, ready to kick him off.

She frowned "What now? I allowed you to roll yourself into a ball to lessen the impact, although I'm not even sure that makes any sense…what could you possibly want now?"

"Please don't make me fall off this building! I read a story once on this site where I fell off of my own building! I died! And you guys didn't have a father anymore!"

Candace put her foot down, looking at him skeptically "But you aren't our father in this fic. You aren't our father in  _any_ of NattyMc's fics."

"I know, but it was worth a try wasn't it? Heh? Heh?"

"Not really…" She kicked him and he began plummeting.

* * *

 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Phineas asked him, he clicked the emergency stop button after the animal had curled up into a ball on the floor of the transparent glass elevator. "Perry?" His pet didn't respond, it just continued to curl up tighter and shudder almost violently.

Perry opened his eye and jumped up, prying open the elevator doors. He rolled out, making sure to click the emergency stop button before he did.

"Perry!" His owner called as the elevator began moving again, down another floor. The boy called after him but he kept running until he reached a glass wall, slamming himself through it and he too began plummeting.

* * *

 

Doofenshmirtz felt the wind rush past him, still curled into a ball and his eyes shut. He tried to find a happy place but that's incredibly hard to do while falling off of a tall building. His hand was grabbed and the wind stopped. Inching one of his eyes open, he found himself staring into two chocolate brown orbs. They looked both relieved and concerned.

The man uncurled his body and heaved a sigh of relief "Perry the Platypus, man am I glad to see you…"

The animal nodded, catching his breath as well. His claws dug into the glass wall, they began slipping. With a horrible screech they began lowering, no matter how hard he dug his nails in. The glass cut and pierced his fingers, making him wince and tears build up in his eyes.

Doof tried to help by digging his own nails into the transparent wall but they just slipped with a squeaky sound. His nails weren't pointy nor hard or strong enough to do anything helpful. They'd start plummeting again once they reached the end of the ledge. They were doomed…

* * *

 

Phineas ran out of the building, pushing Ferb out of the way and grabbing the binoculars from his step brother's neck- roughly I might add-. The green haired boy glared up at his brother, dusting himself off and standing up. He made a fist and was just about to bring it to Phineas' face when the red head disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Ferb in the frame by himself.

The optimistic boy walked closer to the building, looking up through the binoculars. He gasped and then started laughing, turning to his still peeved step-brother. "Wow. We had the bag calculated all wrong. They aren't even  _close_ to landing safely on the inflatable bag. That would have been really bad. It's a good thing Perry caught him, right Ferb?"

Ferb didn't answer

Isabella yelled "Someone has to do something! They're going to fall!"

Baljeet yelled as well "Something must be done! They are going to fall to their  _deaths_!"

The girl glared at him "Do I even need to be here?"

Ferb motioned for them all to follow him and he grabbed an end of the large bag, struggling to pull it. Isabella called everyone together "Everybody pull! We have to move the bag! Good thinking Ferb!"

Phineas rubbed the back of his head in deep thought while everyone else struggled desperately to move the bag. "Wow." He stated "You think you know yourself, but then you realize that you're the idiot that is most likely to get everyone killed one day. To think I always thought it was Ferb who carried that title…"

Isabella held Ferb back, preventing him from jumping his step-brother.

* * *

 

Doofenshmirtz watched as they kept slipping down, his nemesis claws screeching down the glass and bleeding as well. He gulped, saying his decision out loud. "L-let go…"

Perry looked down at him, forgetting the horrible pain in his paw for a moment. Was the man insane? They weren't even over the inflatable bag!

"No I mean…let  _me_ go…"

Again the animal looked at him like he was insane.

"Remember that time on that bridge? You let go to save one of us?"

The platypus nodded, dreading to hear the rest. He already knew exactly where the scientist was going with this…but he still didn't want to hear it…

"Yeah. It's like that…"

The agent tightened his grip on the man's hand. There was no way he was letting go!

"Somehow I knew you'd say that…" The doctor replied "And I'm sorry." And then he pinched the animal's hand, loosening the grip completely.

Perry reached out for him, but obviously it was no use. He watched Doofenshmirtz fall.


	8. Now entering!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a trip!

Perry watched as his nemesis fell, time seemed to slow and he made a conclusion with himself. He couldn't live. He couldn't live without Doofenshmirtz. The man brought a certain aspect to his life that just couldn't- to put it simply- he just couldn't live without the man. Sure he had the boys to comfort him- (Candace would probably just trash talk the man after his end) –but that was only half of his life. Doofenshmirtz was one half and Phineas and Ferb were the other. Could he truly go on when one of those halves was gone? Could he be half a person? Errr platypus? The truth? Honestly?

No. He couldn't.

Blocking out all thoughts that were screaming no to him, he snatched his claws from the glass and then began falling.

He was so sorry boys.

* * *

 

Phineas watched, mouth agape and eyes glued to the binoculars "Dr. D let go! What type of a crazy person would do something like that? I mean, seriously? He's got to be the dumbest- wait. Perry just let go too! Oh, we are going to have a serious discussion about this when we get home!"

Isabella, Ferb, Jeremy, Baljeet and Buford kept pushing on the gigantic inflatable bag. It was moving, but only by mere inches. Candace- who somehow managed to get down there with them without a logical explanation –marveled the sight of her boyfriend pushing against the rubber. (That kind of sounded wrong.) She was flustered and couldn't get her words right so she talked the way she did in the 'Spa Day' episode.

Candace giggled "Wow Emeny…hehe…I mean- Wow Jeremy! Who knew you were so strong? You moved that whole thing like…FIVE centimeters! I don't think any other person here could do that!"

Buford, Ferb and Baljeet got steamed at that. With new found strength, they pushed with all their might (maybe even extra). The bag moved a whole five feet! Whether they  _intended_ for it to run over Candace was an unknown factor.

* * *

 

Doofenshmirtz felt the wind rush past him as he kept falling, the ground nearing and he decided, he didn't want to see it. He didn't want the pavement to be the last thing he saw before he died, he wanted to see…something more special. The scientist twisted his body in air, turn himself over so that he was facing up instead of down. What he saw made him pale and frown almost instantly. He saw a pair of dark brown eyes, yes, but they were closer than he imagined they'd be.

His nemesis, the one who both made and ruined his life, was only a mere foot away, and was falling along with him. The man reached out his arms to pull the platypus down against his chest, he embraced it, telling it over and over again how stupid it was. How stupid it was to put up with him every day, to let go and more importantly to want to die with him. He wasn't worth both their lives, he really wasn't…

Perry didn't answer and buried his face into the man's lab coat, knowing the end for both of them was near and not wanting at all to see it. At the last second, the animal twisted both of them over, so that they would land on their sides. Either neither of them would live or both of them would. Finally they hit something, not feeling anything after that.

Everything was silent.

* * *

 

Everyone coughed as the cloud of smoke dispersed. The force of the impact caused dust to bounce up, that's right, I said bounce. Like I'd kill my favorite people- err, man and animal -in the whole entire universe off….pfft!

Okay…I have done it before…but I'm Natty. I can do what I want and not a single SCREW will be given from me. See how I bleeped that out? Nice right?

"You're stupid! You're so stupid, why would you do that?" Doofenshmirtz scolded the platypus, both unharmed and on the giant airbag. "What if we didn't land on this bag? What would have happened then?! You know I can't live without-" He stopped himself mid-sentence, looking at his nemesis' awaiting gaze. "Nothing. Just don't do that! Ever again! Okay?"

"Hey, Dr. D!" Phineas called up to them "Are you guys alright?"

"Y-yeah." The scientist called over the edge of the inflatable bag "We're alright. How do we get down from here?"

"Ferb's already on it! I can't believe we were able to fit a whole crane in here!"

"Crane?" Doof questioned and a shadow rose over them, a metal claw closing around them and lifting the two in the air. They were lowered safely to stand on the ground in front of everyone else. The man sighed. "Well, I'm glad that's over. Uh, how…how many more tasks did you say there were left? One? Half of one? None?"

"Four, actually." Phineas affirmed and everyone groaned, except for Ferb who hopped out of the crane and stood next to his brother. "We still need to go to the 12th Dimension and find knots, go to a film school and prove a film is stupid by watching a science fiction action horror film, interview a bunch of people that aren't from our world, and last but not least, destroy a television set."

"You can't make this go smoother, can you kid?" The scientist sighed.

"No, no I can't. So we better get a move on if we want to be done by between 3:30 and 4."

"Why between 3:30 and 4?" Isabella asked her crush.

"Because that's when somebody, somewhere is showering and I want to be finished before they step out. Any more questions?"

Everyone raised their hands, questions of why any of that mattered in their heads but the young inventor went on anyways.

"Excellent! So, uh…" Phineas suddenly looked very bothered "Let's start crossing dimensions so we can…so…we..can…" The boy frowned, letting his hand that was holding the portal remote droop by his side. "I- I can't do this!"

"What do you mean you can't do this?" Candace asked him, irritated "We're almost half way done and you just want to give up on this? What's your problem?"

Jeremy tried to calm her "Candace, can't you see he's upset? If he doesn't want to finish what he started, he doesn't have to."

"No…" Phineas told them "I want to finish this, I really do! It's just…in order to go to the 12th Dimension, we have to go through the 2nd a-and…"

They all understood instantly, looking solemn. It was a few months since they found out the current situation of the 2nd Dimension. Rodney taking over, Platyborg and the 2nd Doofenshmirtz being killed as a result. They were all affected of course, but Phineas was hit harder by it. He was too optimistic to deal with death and defeat and tragedy with ease. It was harder for him because he cared too much, about everyone and everything. It was like two of his friends had died, and they had, to him. Going through the 2nd Dimension would take a lot, who knows what it looked like now and it would only bring up memories, no doubt that would make him start crying.

"Well, we don't have to go to the 2nd Dimension if you don't want to. We can all just go home, it's fine. We all respect your decision." Isabella put her arm around him supportively.

The boy looked like he was about to object but Buford stopped him.

"Look Dinnerbell, if you don't go, we won't go. I don't care, I could just go back with my usual plans involving Jeet."

Baljeet crossed his arms "And just  _how_ do your usual plans, involve me?"

"I thought we'd go for a walk in the park." The bully said and the nerd was taken aback for a second. Buford changed his tone instantly and grabbed Baljeet by his underwear, lifting him off the ground and giving him a wedgie. Buford laughed. "What  _else_ did you think we'd do in the park? Have a romantic date? Ha!"

Baljeet sighed as he dangled in the air by his undergarments "I suppose this was inevitable…"

"Great!" Candace smiled, grabbing her boyfriend's hand and starting to lead them both to the exit "We can have our date, our  _real_ date, and not a cheap one like a stupid picnic!"

"I thought you liked picnics…" Jeremy said, sudden concern for his wallet arising in him.

Just as everyone was about to disperse, all except a blank Ferb, a on looking Perry and a head hung Phineas, Doofenshmirtz stepped forward cuz he's just awesome like that.

"Wait! Phineas, if uh, if we stepped through the portal together and you held my hand and I promised not to let go, could we…could we perhaps go through the 2nd Dimension?" The man surprised quite a few in the group. The truth is, he  _wanted_  to visit the other Dimension, where his counterpart used to live before he- …Some statistics show that what happens to one's counterpart could affect them as well. If your counterpart gets hit by a bus unexpectedly, then you might feel this both unpleasant and sick feeling, almost tingling sensation. This was the case with Perry and Platyborg, and his nemesis always complained about how his counterpart needed to watch where he was going and look both ways before it crossed the street. The feeling he kept getting was annoying and happened once every few weeks. It hasn't happened in a while…but that's because their counterparts were no longer with them.

Heinz was bothered greatly by these would-be feelings, and for one reason and one reason only. He couldn't feel anything, and he didn't know if that was any type of sign or not. He didn't feel empty or like something inside of him was gone, there was just no other way to describe the feeling. He just felt absolutely nothing and it pained him. What if feeling nothing was a sign that his counterpart was fine and wasn't in any pain at all? What if that meant that his counterpart was still alive and well somewhere? Or, nothing could just be a symbol of non-existence. Maybe it was because his counterpart didn't exist anymore in this world, he didn't know. Why didn't things like this come with a manual or handbook, or maybe even a pamphlet? Sometimes he'd place his hand to his chest, trying to stop and feel  _something,_ _anything!_  But he couldn't, he just felt the same thing no matter how hard he tried to connect to his counterpart. He felt  _nothing_. This was why he wanted to go to the 2nd Dimension. Maybe looking around and recollecting old memories will trigger it. Trigger  _something_.

Phineas blinked "I- I guess that would make me feel a little better…"

Ferb grasped his brothers hand, giving it a light squeeze and giving him a small smile.

"Thanks bro…" The young inventor smiled back, pulling out the portal remote and activating it. A hole, almost like a tear in the universe, opened up in front of them. Unlike a normal portal where you could see through, this one was just fog, so there was no telling  _what_ was on the other side. Phineas let go of his step-brother's hand, reassuring him. "I'll be okay, Ferb." He grabbed Doofenshmirtz hand and the two inventors stepped through the portal, the other side awaiting them.


	9. Hi, How are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see.

**1st Dimension.**

"Uh guys?" Isabella asked once Phineas and Doofenshmirtz disappeared into the portal. "Has anyone seen Irving?"

Candace, Jeremy, Buford, Baljeet and Ferb all blinked, looking around at each other to see that the little fan-boy was nowhere to be found. No one believed that he was completely forgotten until now. It was half faulted on the author's part.

"When was the last time we saw him?" Baljeet asked.

Candace shrugged "Was he there when the second castle exploded?"

"He was….wasn't he?" Isabella looked uncertain.

Jeremy just shrugged and Buford could care less about what happened to Irving. Ferb suddenly remembered something and ran off while everyone else was occupied, donning his fedora as the female singers started to sing his name.

' _Fer-!'_

"Oh, be quiet already!" Ferb snapped at them and continued running.

* * *

**2** **nd** **Dimension.**

Irving giggled to himself, slipping a camera string around his neck and aiming the camera around at everything. He'd never been to the 2nd dimension before and he was glad he was able to sneak through the portal while everyone was having a moment. He'd never met the 2nd Doofenshmirtz or his cyborg before they died, but from what he heard, the cyborg was pretty cool! From what he's heard from the 1st Doof from his dimension, the man was kind of…well, a jerk to him.

The fan boy thought about all the different things he'd be able to take pictures of, Phineas and Ferb's counterparts, other peoples counterparts, even some people that he didn't know, their counterparts as well! He squee'd out loud when he thought of the possibilities of meeting his own counterpart. They could both love Phineas and Ferb together! Double the Irving!

But of course, if he had a counterpart, that also meant that his brother  _Albert_ , also had a counterpart. Yuck! Double of his older brother! Irving looked up, hearing the sound of turbo boosters, almost like rockets, shoot across the sky.

"Woah!" He exclaimed, and held his camera upwards to take a picture of the unidentified flying object directly above his head. It wasn't a spaceship, he was sure of that. It was way too small! He was happy his camera had a zoom in feature because the image was getting bigger, but wait….he wasn't clicking any buttons… "Ah!" Irving screamed, ducking as the thing flew over his head, missing him by just centimeters. Man, that was close! Something rolled between his parted feet and stopped in front of him. Irving picked it up, eyeing it curiously. "Spray paint?"

Something landed behind him and he turned around, face to face with an orange beak and a glaring brown eye. The fan-boy was knocked off his feet

...

* * *

Phineas opened his eyes hesitantly, looking around as the fog cleared from around them. The scientist was still holding his hand, not once letting go after they had stepped through the portal. Things cleared up as the mist dispersed, it wasn't wet mist either…

The boy started coughing, trying to get fresh air in his lungs but that only sucked more smog into them. The air was heavily polluted and he just could not stop gasping.

"Phineas? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah Dr. D, I'm o-" Phineas stopped, the smog now fully gone as he stared out in front of him. The entire town in ruins.

It was a ghost town. Nothing, no people, no animals, not a sound in the gray, smoke infested city. There were no bright colors or fine décor or conventional architecture. Everything was dull and crumbled. The clouds of black and gray blocked out the sun, some clouds coming from a huge exhaust pipe and many smaller ones like it. The purple, red, green and pink colors that the 2nd Dimension Tri-State Area once was, was now covered in soot and ash. Nothing was the same, and they never would be. There weren't any decorations or statues from the new ruler of any kind. No creativity or even an attempt to make the town look even remotely like his image. The only clarification or signs that there was a new ruler was a name, spray painted in capital letters, dark, proud and bold on the second tallest building in town.

' **RODDENSTEIN.'**

The writing was kind of sloppy though, almost like it was done by an eight year old...

The first tallest building in town, now that he had finally found it, brought back crushing memories. The memories were good ones, of course, but it crushed him to think back to them now.

The 2nd Dimension Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building stood tall, towering over all other buildings, none even close to matching its height. Although, now that is was much shorter than it once was. The entirety of the extension was gone, lying in ruins on the ground far below the original part. The remains of what once was the 2nd half of the building was in a pile or scattered, no one had bothered to clean it up. When they had gotten the phone call from the Other Dimension Candace, she had been quick in explaining what she thought had happened to her Dr. D and Platyborg. She said that it was quite possible that they had been caught during the collapse, trapped and crushed by the falling beams and shattering glass and other falling objects. They could have just fell with the rest of the building. She added that they didn't feel anything, their death was most likely painless. Heck, she said, Platyborg could have freaked out when the ground started shaking, maybe the dictator knocked him out himself just to calm the thing down so he could think of a way out. Phineas laughed a bit at that. His other sister told him not to worry, they were all going to be fine and as long as they didn't interfere, then they'd be fine too.

Truth is, Phineas wasn't fine. He stayed awake for days, stress and guilt filling him to the brim. He kept having dreams, thinking 'what if?'. They were scheduled to visit the 2nd Dimension a week before the takeover of it. What if they had gone through with their plans and gone over for a visit? Would things still have gone down the same way? What if the other dimension Candace was wrong? What if they were still alive, pleading and silently hoping for someone to help them? None would have come.

The boy felt something in his stomach, and it wasn't just the nausea from all the haze he was breathing in. He felt something run out of his nose and when he brought his hand back from wiping it, he realized that his nose had started bleeding. He looked down, the dirt and rocks beneath his feet crunched under him as he fidgeted his sneakers. Phineas caught sight of something, pulling his hand away and running as fast as he could towards the 2D DEI building. He didn't stop, no matter how many times Dr. D called after him.

...

* * *

**1st Dimension.**

Ferb's feet skidded across the floor as he made a hasty stop. "I'm terribly so-"

"Hey, its fine." Vanessa told him, sitting on a crate and waving it off. "I'm the one who's keeping you from your brother and your friends, and my dad and everything. I should be in my classes right now, not ditching at all. My dad has high hopes for me." She admitted. "But I suck at school completely! I can barely keep up! I keep telling him that there's probably something wrong with me, that I must have a mental blockage or  _something,_ but he doesn't listen! He says I really do have potential, and that I just need to focus on finding the one thing I'm good at. But that's just it! Everything fails me! I don't even know what I'm going to major in yet! Did you know that some kids in my class already know what they're going to be, and how many years they'd have to study for it? Your sister already knows what she's going to name her  _kids_! I mean, what kind of evil scientist's daughter can't even-" She stopped mid-rant, blinking at the green haired boy just before he blinked at her.

The Brit blinked again before speaking "You sound just like your father."

Vanessa looked confused.

"Not in a bad way of course." Ferb reassured her. "You can ramble just like him perfectly, I just haven't noticed until now." He looked at how she started to think, opening his mouth again. He hadn't meant to offend her in any way and he wanted to make sure she knew that "It's a very useful trait actually. You could use it to teach, or perhaps it'd be best for giving lectures…"

"That's actually…thanks Ferb. I guess I could look into that…"

"If it's any consolation, I'm glad you skipped classes today." He told her, taking her hand in his, hopping up beside her on the wooden box.

"Really, why?"

"Yes." He patted her hand "Because I got to spend time with you..."


	10. Redeemed Rescuer's Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the rescuer has redeemed himself and has found a new reality.

**2nd Dimension.**

Irving flew backwards, his body scraping painfully against the concrete as he landed, tumbling. He stopped himself from rolling finally, the blow being that powerful. He look up, a contraption of gray, blue, black and orange, glared down at him out of its one brown eye. They eye was cold, and unfeeling. The fan-boy recognized him instantly, haven pestered all that had seen him- mainly Phineas, Ferb, Dr. D and Perry of the 1st Dimension- until they finally gave him a description good enough for a sketch artist.

The boy hesitantly reached into his pocket, pulling out a Ziploc bag and reaching inside of it to bring out the folded piece of paper from it. Irving unfolded the hand-drawn picture, holding it so it lined up right next to the thing staring down at him. He made the conclusion instantly "Platyborg?"

Cyborg snarled at him. How did this idiot know that name? That horrid name that another prisoner pleads to him with. He hated the way it sounded, coming from the man it was his job to torture and from this boy as well. He must be an enemy, someone that was once affiliated with the one eyed man. Doofenshmirtz, that's what his master called the prisoner…

Irving didn't get up, not knowing if he should or not. "Platyborg, it  _is_  you!" He smiled at the thing, but it didn't seem to be listening as the cyborg snatched the piece of paper away from him with a groan. "Hey!" He narrowed his eyes behind his glasses as he watched the thing rip his drawing of it in half. "That took a long time to draw, you know! I had to stalk my friends for weeks just to- What's that?" He asked, taking the piece of ripped paper that was being given to him. "Doofenshmirtz?"

The cyborg nodded, pointing to the boy questioningly.

"Do I know him?"

Again the thing gave a nod and the boy answered him.

"Of course I know him!" Irving responded, a little offended "Anybody who is anybody knows him! Jeez, where have  _you_  been?"

That was all Cyborg needed to hear. He growled, regaining his threatening exterior and he grabbed the boy by the back of the shirt.

Irving was hoisted up, off the ground by the back of his shirt collar. He choked, the grip slightly choking him. Before the fan-boy knew it, he was screaming as the thing took off with him. The air rushed past them as they flew over Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, flying past it and towards another building, smaller in size but twice as intimidating…

* * *

"Phineas!" The scientist called after the boy, running as fast as he could to catch up to him. He didn't know why the kid was running, or where he was running to, but he found himself skidding to a stop on his heel when he realized just where Phineas was running to. The man stopped, right in front of the DEI of this dimension. He watched the boy disappear around it but he didn't move, he just stared, watching, and waiting, at the building in front of him. He was told that the top part buckled, but he couldn't have imagined anything like this. It looked like his building now in the 1st Dimension. Doof cautiously made his way around the corner, looking out at the wreckage and ruins of the 2nd extension. He looked down at a piece of metal that he accidentally stepped on and picked it up, slowly examining it in his hand, flipping it over to see red, charred, wallpaper. The walls were made of metal? Why would the building be constructed out of-

As he pocketed the piece of metal wall, he strolled around, taking in every piece of metal, plaster and other unidentified pieces of housing materials there was. There was nothing he could identify as haven seen intact before, everything was too mangled and burned and smashed to do so. He willed himself to look up at the gigantic, gaping, hole in the side of the building where the addition once connected to the original. He squinted up, recognizing the room instantly.

Half of the other him's office stared back at him, the half that had made it through the shaking and explosions. He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly becoming dry and a knot hardening in his chest as he placed his hand over his chest, closing his eyes. He dug down, taking in as much as he could, holding his breath just in case that interfered in some way…but again, nothing.

Again, in the past 11 months since he'd last seen his counterpart, he felt absolutely nothing. Not a beat, not a imp or so much as a glimpse of a feeling. No connections. The line was dead, and now, that he's seen this and felt nothing, he knows the truth. The other him and Platyborg were dead, and no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried to feel or connect, there was nothing. No hope, no life, no feelings, no anything. There was nothing, and he felt the nothing deep down inside of him. He now felt it, like a part of him was missing and the worst part was, he knew he couldn't get it back…

"NO!" Phineas' nearby scream made the doctor snap back, turning his head every way to locate the boy.

"Phineas? Where are you?! Say something!"

The boy didn't respond verbally but his sobs echoed enough through the fog and dust that the doctor soon found him on his knees in front of a large pile of rubble, head down and clutching his arms in front of him. Doof knelt down behind him turning him around to sit in his lap. Glass pierced his knees but he could care less, more concerned about the young inventor. "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?" The scientist glared "Why did you run off like that?"

Phineas shook his head, burying his face into the lab coat, clutching it and crying.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz wrapped his arms around the boy. "Why're you-" And froze, staring out in front of him.

Phineas found the bodies.

* * *

Irving shielded his face as they crashed through the wall of the medium sized building. It was big yes, but definitely smaller than DEI in comparison. The cyborg landed with ease on his feet, the wings retracting and the boosters powering down.

"Cyborg! What have I told you about crashing through my walls? Have I not trained you well enough? Do you  _want_ me to try again?"

Cyborg whimpered, shaking his head no. It dropped the boy to the ground without a second thought and bowed down to the man, showing its extravagant loyalty. The man nodded to it, finally noticing the small boy on the floor.

"What have you brought me?"

Irving lifted his head up from the floor, rubbing his cranium and glaring the cyborg down. He stood up, dusting himself off as he addressed the bald man. "Rodney, is it?" The boy scowled.

"Cyborg, what is the meaning of this?" He demanded "Why have you brought me this pathetic imp of life?"

Cyborg made a 'D' with his fingers.

"What  _about_  Doofenshmirtz?"

The thing pointed to Irving.

"The boy?" Rodney questioned "How does this child have any connections to our prisoner?"

Cyborg chattered, gesturing to the boy and stepping back, in a 'see for yourself' manner as he brought out a backpack, opening it up and handing his master the papers.

"Hey!" Irving shouted, trying to get them back but the cyborg held his face back with a webbed foot, so the boy mumbled against the webbed toes "Those are private!"

Roddenstein looked over the drawings and occasional notes, blinking as he flipped through them, looks of bewilderment, amusement and finally an evil smirk. "Take him to the interrogation room. We're going to have to ask this criminal a few questions…"

Irving's head shot up after he was shoved down again. "Criminal?"

* * *

"We- We have to go Phineas." Was the urgent sentence that escaped him. They had to leave, if not for his sake then for the boy's. They weren't safe here, no one was safe here, he realized it now. Doofenshmirtz got to his feet and began to turn but the boy kicked out of his arms, landing on the debris and dust-stricken ground.

"We can't just leave them!" Phineas told him, turning his head back.

"It isn't safe here! We have to get to the 12th Dimension and get those knots, and then we're going back to our dimension! It's too late for them and there's nothing we can do!" He was always protective over the boy, and right now he wanted to spare him from this, all of this.

"You don't care! You never cared about them! You never liked the other you! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" The red head screamed. "We didn't go to visit them the week before they were killed because you didn't want to! IF WE HAD JUST VISITED THEM LIKE I PLANNED THEN THEY'D PROBABLY STILL BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW! IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY'RE DEAD, DR. D!" Phineas sobbed hysterically, his sight being blinded by the rushing tears.

Doofenshmirtz picked Phineas back up, not saying a word as he wrapped the boy with his arms. He walked away the same way the two bodies laid together.

The bigger one protecting the little one.

* * *

"Criminal?" Irving looked up just in time to see a metal hand reach out for him. The boy jumped out of the way and to his feet, backing away from the cyborg that was now in pursue of him.

"Get him!" Roddenstein commanded and the thing leapt to it.

The fan-boy jumped and dodged and twisted and threw himself out of the way of oncoming projectiles, blasts, fists and feet, a spiked tail, and other things coming at him. He was almost at the door when he was grabbed by the ankle and hoisted in the air where he hung upside down. Irving tried to shake and kick the grasp lose but the death grip around his ankle tightened and he was pretty sure he heard a non-painful crack emit from it. He winced, thinking of what would happen if he heard another crack, this time, agonizing. He didn't want to risk it and surrendered.

Rodney looked staisfied "Now, take him to the-"

"Uh, sir?" Interrupted a familiar voice and all pairs and half pairs of eyes looked to the doorway where a blond teenager stood, looking nervous and uncertain.

"Jeremy?" Irving wondered aloud and he was responded by the cyborg slamming his head against the floor, glaring at him. It was basically the thing's way of telling him to be quiet when his boss was doing something.

"What is it, lackey?" Roddenstein asked harshly.

The Johnson boy shrunk back, highly intimidated by his 'boss'. "Well…you see, about the whole 'lackey' thing…" Jeremy gulped "I- I don't think I want to do it anymore and I was wondering if I could…you know, ….quit?" He risked his whole life on the last word.

"Quit?" The madman asked "Why on earth would you want to do that?"

"My, uh, neck hurts…" The blond teen removed his hand to reveal four, red, hole, marks.

Irving gasped, holding his own neck in fear. Was that what they did to prisoners? Stabbed them with forks until they talked?! Well he wouldn't succumb to their torture methods! …Okay, maybe he'd succumb a little….but if they so much as tried to get any info about Phineas and Ferb then he'd give his life to protect them! No one could make him talk! NEVER!

"You're worried about those little marks?" Rodney scoffed "I know many men who have once worked for me and have lost their lives doing my bidding, not one had once asked me to quit. Well…all except one." Rodney narrowed his eyes "Sadly he's still alive…" Then he smiled, giving a pity laugh. "But not for long. As soon as he gives me what I want…it'll all be over for him, and maybe…just maybe, an arranged marriage should be in order. His daughter is quite…" He frowned. "No. She will be my maid. I have a much better 'bride to be' in mind. Doofenshmirtz does have his lovely fiancé. I told him not to worry about her. The girl will be in good hands…"

"Fiancé?!" Irving cried. Okay, he may have only been here for fifteen minutes and he didn't really know what the heck was going on…but he definitely knew that something was horribly wrong here. The boy's mind was in a frenzy as he screamed out in both shock and obliviousness to the more important stuff that was previously mentioned. Paying no attention to the fact that someone's daughter was going to be forced into slavery and they apparently had a prisoner of war somewhere, he screamed in shock and revulsion "Doofenshmirtz has a fiancé?!"

"Yes…,sir." Jeremy agreed to his boss, being like everyone else and ignoring the flailing boy. It was all he could do. He could only agree to everything the man said, and he hated that. He hated what this organization was trying to accomplish. It was all just wrong, I mean, destroy a man and take everything from him because he's the smartest? The most powerful? Strong? Loved? The former dictator was all these things and to think he had once resented the man for taking over. Now, he hoped Doofenshmirtz could escape. He hoped the man could escape his white prison, his antagonists and everything else that would soon kill him. That's only the beginning of what the group had planned. They wanted much more than the Pizzazium Infinionite, the man's life and his suffering. They wanted way more… And as he listened to Roddenstein's mad cackling over what he planned to do to his old companion's daughter and fiance, he felt sick to his stomach. He needed to get out of here, he really did but he waited, waited until the man stopped laughing, but would it ever stop? Would anything ever stop? The world needed to stop, someone needed to interfere, to do something. He couldn't do anything, he was a lackey to protect the ones he loved. That was the deal, that was always the first deal and pledge to the organization…

Jeremy had learned a lot, about a horrible organization and their plans, about his own feelings and the evil in the world, but mostly about Doofenshmirtz. The former dictator- when he started out- the deal didn't apply to him, strictly because he had no one to love or protect. But when he did get that, a lot of that, that was when the first deal applied to him, only then. The moment his first born daughter came into the world was the moment of the worlds end. Then another imp of life that he loved was created, Platyborg, second born and son. Jeremy just hoped and prayed that there wouldn't be a third…

The world depended on it.

"Only one has tried to quit on me…" Rodney continued "But of course I couldn't very well let that happen… So, no. No, you may not quit. You may be demoted but that is all I grant you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." The blond teen nodded, dismissing himself from the room and out of the doorway where he pressed himself back against the wall. He gave an exasperated sighed.

Doofenshmirtz-2 had to get out and stop it, stop everything. The man was clever and incredible, he was sure the former dictator would be able to save himself, and the rest of the world around him. He had to, there were no other words to fill the urgency of it. The man just had to.

The world depended on a lot, but right now…It depended on a man.

A man that just had to.

* * *

The 1st Dimension Doofenshmirtz didn't stop walking or even let the boy walk on his own. He just activated the portal remote and stepped into the 3rd Dimension. He ignored the giant creature that was there and it pretty much ignored him also. The scientist walked through all of the dimensions in silence, Phineas was silent and he had thought/hoped the boy had just fallen asleep in his arms. The crying had ceased once they passed the 5th Dimension and they were now entering the 7th.

The scientist sighed, recollecting and sorting out his own thoughts. He had done the right thing, getting Phineas away from there. Why did he ever convince the kid to go in the first place? Oh yeah, it was because he couldn't feel and he felt bad about it. Was the trip worth it? He really couldn't say. It was worth it for him because he now had some closure, he knew what the fate of the two counterparts were. Just like the 2nd banshee screaming girl had said, they were caught and crushed in the collapse. He couldn't get the images out of his head because now he now knew exactly how they had died. He was now picturing how the events played out and he couldn't stop himself from seeing it. He couldn't stop himself from picturing the video in his mind. The building started to shake and things started to fall, with nothing they could do to stop it, the other him started pulling the cyborg towards the exit. A beam fell, something fell in the way and they were trapped. The extension started to tip backwards and they were thrown back. It disconnected completely and in a final attempt to save one of them, the other him had thrown himself over the tiny cyborg, shielding him from anything and everything as the whole half of the building plummeted, their bodies being thrown and tossed around inside like nothing. Slamming against walls and furniture and glass, the other him squeezing the cyborg tighter to protect him as much as he could. Finally, there was the impact and the other him's love just wasn't enough to protect them. The love could not withstand broken and shattered bones, concussions and blunt force trauma. It could not survive snapped spinal cords or the heaviness of metal walls and other possible falling objects that could easily crush life forms. It just wasn't enough of a cushion to break the fall.

And now the bodies lay together along with the ruins of the home of which they once lived, the larger body covering the smaller one, both clutching each other either if the reason was for dear life, or farewell, perhaps no one would ever know…

Doofenshmirtz walked through the last portal, they were now in the 12th Dimension. I know that there were a lot of dimensions through that 'Brand New Reality' sample but even though I have to take extra math classes because I fail the exams all too easily, I am pretty sure I counted correctly and have the right dimension…

The 12th dimension was like all the other dimensions throughout the multi-verse, it was different than the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th and other continuing worlds in the cycle. They all had their own character. He looked down at the limp body in his arms. Phineas wasn't unconscious or hurt or dead or anything, turns out, the boy wasn't even really asleep.

"Phineas, we're here." The doctor told him and the boy turned his head from facing the lab coat to stare directly out in front of him.

Phineas got out of the man's arms and the man kneeled on one leg to place him to his feet. Everything was quiet in the 12th Dimension, not so much as a sign of any life form of any kind. They were alone in the dim place. Multiple black squares, put together like a mixture of high stairs lay in front of them and around them.

"Aw, dude, how are we going to find knots in this place? Are you sure this is the 12th dimension?"

"I'm a scientist who does quantum physics and changes molecular structure almost every day, I  _THINK_ I know how to count to twelve…"

Phineas rolled his eyes and stepped forward to a square, it was almost as tall as him so he climbed up on it, landing on his side when he reached the top of the first square. The second his body touched the square, it changed into a bright red color, lighting up underneath him. He stood and looked down at it weird before hopping up to another square, this one turned green on contact. He jumped on another and it turned a blue color. "Woah! Dr. D, you have to try this!" The boy exclaimed as he jumped on more, each one turning a different color with each slap of sneakers. Phineas left a trail of colors as he continued hopping along the squares.

Doofenshmirtz shrugged and- with caution –stepped on a square. He jumped back from it in slight shock as it turned red on contact. He stared at it, unconvinced and unsure.

Phineas urged him onward as he hopped on another square with one foot, actually laughing. "Come on! They don't bite!"

The doctor hesitantly stepped on the same square, this time it turned purple. He half smiled and stepped on another, this time it turned red, then again, and it turned green. He got into it quickly, hopping from square to square as they each turned a different color with every step. He made his own trail of colors, swerved and not a straight line like Phineas'.

Speaking of the young inventor, he changed his path of colors and was now playing around with the squares, going in different directions, making zig zags with the sideways diamonds. Silence was had, except for the sound of sneaker pats and hops.

The scientist stopped hopping, and half smiled in the optimistic boy's direction. The boy smiling himself as he hopped from square to square as they both took in this moment of life. Doofenshmirtz knew, and so did Phineas that life was short and could easily be taken from anyone, even those that loved it most. Fun loving people, without a care in the world, could be easily removed, like Platyborg. He was a kid at heart, it was easy to spot even if you didn't know him. He was small, and innocent, eyes that could melt even the most horrid of evil away. Maybe that's what happened to the other him, but then again, no one knew about what happened. The doctor didn't feel like he knew his counterpart, they always had a distant relationship, basically because the other him hated his guts. He remembered the day that the other him admitted that he wasn't 'all that bad'. It wasn't an 'I love you' but he accepted and appreciated it the same way.

Phineas hopped again, his smile gleaming with amusement, that is, until he stepped on another square. He stopped on it, staring down and he watched a frown form on his own face in his reflection. The orange squared glowed back at him, mocking. The boy growled, stomping on the orange square in anger and frustration until it cracked. He drove his fists down into it, glass shattering and grazing his knuckles. He shattered the square, not paying attention to Doof's frantic screams until it was too late. He was grabbed from behind just as glass came crashing down, shattering in the place where he once was.


	11. Unrequited Requests

**2nd Dimension.**

Irving was thrown into a chair, the restraints instantly snapping shut around his wrists. He looked up in the dark room, the same man from before was looming over him, smiling wildly.

"Now, tell me  _everything_ you know about Doofenshmirtz…"

Now Irving didn't really know Doofenshmirtz. Don't get him wrong, he talked to the man a few times, followed him home, peed on his couch a few times for revenge, stole DNA, pictures, legal documents, his birth certificate and dental records, but personally? No, he didn't know the man personally. So the stalker boy shrugged. "I don't know much about him."

"Nice try but that isn't going to work." Roddenstein told him, frowning.

"Really! I don't know that much about him! The only things I DO know are things I've heard from my dimensions Phineas and Dr. D-"

"Who?"

Irving's eyes went wide and he looked horrified. What did he just do?! "No one!" He quickly corrected and even he knew that it was too late.

Rodney got even closer to him than he already was, it was kind of creepy. "You just said someone….AND you said 'your dimension'….you're not from here, are you boy?"

"Yes I am! I'm totally from this dimension!" Irving lied.

"You know Doofenshmirtz, but then again, you don't. You know his counterpart…"

"I-I thought you didn't know about the 1st Dimension..." Irving tried to change the subject.

"So you HAVE been talking to the Doofenshmirtz of the 1st Dimension…"

"I don't want any trouble for my friends!"

"They're not in trouble, oh no, they're not…"

Irving sighed in relief then jumped when the madman continued.

"…AND they won't be…that is…if you just tell me where in this dimension they are…"

"No way! And how did you know that they were in this dimension?!"

"You just told me that they were." Rodney grinned.

"No!" The fan-boy screamed. He was horrible under pressure! "I mean, I never told you that they were here!"

"What's the big deal? I just want to talk to them, that's all and nothing more. I promise…" The man grinned.

Irving didn't know… He heard some things about this guy, from Phineas, and Candace when she was making fun of him, and occasionally from Dr. D. They weren't good things, he could say that much…

"I won't hurt them…I just want to talk to them…"

"Just talk?" Irving asked for reassurance and the madman nodded "…They went to the 12th Dimension…looking for knots to break a wall…"

* * *

**12** **th** **Dimension.**

Phineas opened his eyes and uncovered them. He looked to the pile of glass that stood where he once was. He would have been under all of that if he hadn't been pulled back and he looked up at the scientist that was holding him by his shoulders.

"You okay?" Dr. Doofenshmirtz asked and the boy slowly nodded, still staring out in front of him at the colorless glass pile that was once multiple colors. A few blocks fell from up high, triggered from the boy banging on the lower blocks in the structure. "What's the matter with you? Huh?" The doctor asked, looking down at the young boy. "This isn't the young, optimistic, inventor, which I'm proud to have had the opportunity to meet. You're not being  _Phineas,_ Phineas. What's wrong?"

"I miss them…" Phineas whimpered "A lot…"

The scientist stooped down to hug him. "I miss them too…So much…" Doof said, frowning and recollecting "I miss Platyborg's smile, his playfulness, his innocence…" He straggled off.

Phineas sulked, remembering the time when he didn't think Platyborg was as innocent as thought to be. He found out he was wrong, the cyborg was innocent all along…

"…I miss the other me…" Doofenshmirtz started to smile, laughing "The way he belittled me, and called me an idiot, the annoyed looks and glares he always used to give me…the times he slammed me up against walls to prove a point or try to scare me…. It's funny how you could miss the worst in a person, especially if that person was yourself, and the worst in that person, was actually always their best…" The scientist's voice broke "You just never know until they're gone..."

Phineas listened, leaning into the lab coat.

"But do you know what I miss the most?"

"What?" The red head blinked.

"I miss your optimism, another thing we lost to that crazed bastard, Rodney. I want nothing more than to get back at him for what he's done…" He glared then blinked it off "I'm sorry Phineas, I didn't mean to curse like that and go all street. I'm not like Rodney…and neither was the other me. I wish I could take back what I said to him, but I think he knew that I never really meant it…"

"You two were best friends, weren't you?"

Dr. Doofenshmirtz shook his head with a small chuckle "Now I don't know anything about that…"

"Of course you were!" Phineas smiled. "Remember that song?"

"What song- Oh. That song." The scientist suddenly remembered, his first encounter with his counterpart. They did sing a song. How long ago was that? It had to be more than three years ago…the day they first met…

"And…I think you remember how it goes…"

"No! Phineas! I don't think I'm up for singing anything right now. Especially not that…and besides, that was so long ago, I don't think I know the words anymore."

"I think you do!"

"I don't. Let's leave it at that and go find those knots."

"Before we find those knots…" Phineas' smile was wide "We must sing!"

"No! We don't ' _must_ ' do anything! We have to find those knots and get back to our dimension!"

" _Do I know you…?_ " Phineas asked, jokingly.

"Come on Phineas! Don't do this to me!" Doof pleaded.

Phineas kept going. " _Well, that would explain the handsomeness…_ "

"I'm not in the mood!"

" _Does this mean that you and I are exactly alike…?_ "

"You're going to make me cry!"

Then the music started playing.

Phineas:  _Do you want some rice pudding…?_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (half-heartedly and talking): …Ew, no, that's gross…

Phineas:  _It was a test! Almond Brittle?_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (starting to smile): …I love it the most…

Phineas (smiling):  _Me too! …Do you collect coins?_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (getting into it now): _Yeah! Just in case…Vending machines become the-_

Both (All Out):  _-Dominant race!_

_I've been alone all these years!_

_With my irrational fears!_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz:  _(But not the vending machine thing. That's gonna happen)_

Phineas:  _But now before me I see!_

Both:  _Someone with whom I agree!_

_I've found a brand new best friend and it's me!_

_I've found a brand new best friend and it's me!_

Phineas:  _Hmm, I thought I'd be taller…_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (eyes narrowed):  _I've been told I slouch. I thought I'd have both my eyes, y'know..._

Phineas (Suddenly wearing an eye patch and holding up a black pouch): It's in this pouch.

(Phineas and Doofenshmirtz look at each other for a second before bursting out laughing and continuing the song)

Dr. Doofenshmirtz: … _Do llamas weird you out?_

Phineas:  _Yeah, are they camels or sheep?_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz:  _No, no, I meant Lorenzo-_

Phineas:  _Oh, that's right…_

Both:  _He played Meap!_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Playing the multicolored blocks like an xylophone):  _Now I know all about you…_

Phineas:  _And you know all about me…_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz:  _(Ooh-wee-ooh!)_

Both:  _And now before me I see…_

_Someone with whom I agree!_

_I've found a brand new best friend and it's me!_

_I've found a brand new best friend and it's me!_

_Now that I've found you…_

_We can be a duo!_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz:  _(That's right)_

Both:  _Twice the evil_

_Double Doofenshmirtz!_

Dr. Doofenshmirtz: Coming at you Fridays!

The two laughed it off, sitting on the ground after their fun music number. The scientist calmed down his laughing enough to praise the boy.

"Thank you Phineas, I haven't felt that great in a long time."

"You're Welcome Dr. D! I feel better too!"

"Well, it's great that we both got some type of closure out of this, but it's getting late…" Doofenshmirtz looked at his wristwatch, getting up from the floor "We still have to get back to our dimension and we haven't even started searching for those knots yet….I don't think I'm quite sure on where to start, you?"

Phineas stood as well, looking over the world of multicolored blocks. "I think we should look over there." He pointed to a pile "Those blocks look the most out of place."

The scientist threw an arm around the boy as they walked over to said blocks. "You know, I was thinking the exact same thing…"

* * *

**2** **nd** **Dimension.**

"Hey! What gives?!" Irving yelled as a robot tossed him into a cell made of concrete bricks and rusty bars. The cell door was slammed behind him. "You said no one would get hurt!"

"I said that, yes." Rodney nodded, starting to walk away "But I think I knew that I was lying in the first place…"

"But I didn't know that!" The fan-boy called after him.

"You do now, don't you? That's all that matters!"

"Get back here! You can't do this!" Irving cried as the exit was shut behind the man, he slid down from the bars, and he wondered, just how many things did he just screw up?

* * *

**1** **st** **Dimension.**

"They've been gone for an awful long time…" Isabella noted, standing and still staring at the spot where the portal was once opened up at, near the fence and outside of the dome.

Baljeet was sitting cross-legged in the grass and Buford was kneeling not too far away from him, Ferb was nowhere to be found and Candace was giggling at Jeremy, the couple standing off to the side.

Baljeet agreed, asking "How long has it been since they left?"

Buford looked at his watch, answering plainly "Three hours."

"Oh my…" Baljeet sounded concerned "Perhaps we should go in after them."

"I thought we couldn't." Buford told him "They have the only working portal remote in this whole dimension thingy."

"Oh yeah." Baljeet nodded knowingly "Our Dr. Doofenshmirtz has the only one in existence of our dimension, and the one from the 2nd Dimension had the other only one in existence of his dimension. There were only two remotes."

Isabella seemed hopeful for any solution "Can't we just build another one?"

"We cannot risk doing that." Baljeet told her. "Inter-dimensional travel is extremely dangerous at this point, and that's only because of the 2nd Dimension's current state. Also, before his death, the 2nd Dimension Doofenshmirtz- try saying that three times fast –specifically asked that the only two remotes in existence REMAIN the only two remotes in existence. And I for one, REFUSE to go against a dead man's wishes-"

Isabella hoisted the Indian nerd off the ground, with a face that promised death. "You're going to have your own wishes if you don't build that 3rd remote!"

"Done!" Baljeet promised and was dropped to the ground, getting up to run to where Phineas and Ferb kept all their tools.

* * *

**2** **nd** **Dimension.**

"Wow." Phineas smiled, an armful off expertly done, rope knots, in his arms as he and Doofenshmirtz- arms also filled with multiple knots and some being held between his teeth–walked through the 3rd Dimension, avoiding the giant monster there. "We were right about those out of place squares. I can't believe we found them that quickly…Dr. D?"

"Hang on…" The scientist said, mumbled because of the knots in his mouth. He reached into his coat pocket for the remote to open another portal, and then spit out the knots. "We're entering the 2nd Dimension now, the danger zone. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Phineas nodded, noticing that the doctor looked nervous and so did he a bit, but he reassured the man anyway. "I'm fine."

They stepped through the portal and into the 2nd Dimension. It was quiet, almost too much. Doofenshmirtz looked unsure, looking around them for something, anything.

Phineas looked neutral for a second, but then caught sight of something, doing a double take, he stammered, pointing. "D-Dr. D!"

Dr. Doofenshmirtz followed the boy's finger, staring at the army of skinny robots headed straight for them. His eyes narrowed as he was able to pick out one lone figure out of thousands, hatred and revulsion filling up in the scientist as he said the name of detestation aloud in disgust. "Rodney…"


	12. At Your Own Expense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After you...

**2** **nd** **Dimension.**

"Take the remote and go through the portal."

"What?" Phineas asked as he caught the remote thrown to him. He couldn't comprehend, the scientist said it too fast. "Dr. D! Wait!"

"Get out of here!" Dr. Doofenshmirtz instructed him, trying to get down from the rubble pile they were on. The tiny pebbles and dust sliding under his feet as he tried not to fall, a full focused look on his face.

"What are you trying to do?!"

"Rodney's up there. If I can get close enough to him I can knock him off the pile of rocks. He'll fall, and I'm hoping he'll be injured enough not to get up. That's when I'll get him." The scientist said, trying to rush to the said pile to go through with his quickly thought up plan. If he lost then he lost. It didn't matter, that's all he saw as the boy desperately tried to stop him.

"Wait Dr. D!" Phineas called as he watched the doctor start to work his way up the debris pile by climbing, the boy followed suit, still trying to slow the man down, to stop his friend from doing something foolish. "What is it you hope to accomplish by doing this?"

"Someone has to stop him now. No one else can. He has to pay for what he did, for everything he's ever done. If someone doesn't punish him now, then no one else will. It's our only chance now!" He was getting irritated. Why couldn't the boy just understand?

"Our only chance at what?" Phineas called up to him, a good deal below him in climbing where he stopped to stand on a steady spot "Huh? Tell me what's so important that you have to risk your life for?! What do you have to toss away your life for?!"

"REVENGE, PHINEAS! OKAY?!" Dr. Doofenshmirtz screamed, unintentionally alerting some nearby robots.

* * *

**1** **st** **Dimension.**

"Are you done yet?!" Isabella asked.

Baljeet glared back at her, angrily twisting a screwdriver to the back panel of the newly constructed remote. He worked profusely on this stupid remote for her, scrambling to find the correct parts on such short notice, scrambling again to put them together while she barks orders and breathes down his neck, and for what? He didn't feel comfortable with this in the first place! They were going against a dead man's wishes, and that was just wrong in itself!

The alternate Doofenshmirtz specifically asked that there only be two portal remotes in existence. There couldn't be another gateway to their worlds. The dictator had asked a favor of his counterpart, for him to destroy his remote and the other one would have the same fate. He wanted both remotes to be destroyed so that there was NO gateway, absolutely NO way to access either worlds.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz declined with reasoning, saying that what if the need for them to meet again rose up? They'd all be stranded and wouldn't be able to help either side out. It took a lot but he finally convinced his counterpart to leave the remotes intact and so they both kept one on hand, the only two in existence. The scientist also reasoned that they were all close and would miss each other terribly if there were no more visits between them.

Now there was a third remote, one that wasn't authorized in the agreement, and it went against everything in the terms and conditions. This was serious. Baljeet thought about this deeply. Should he destroy it now while he still could? This was bad, this was very bad. Something was going to go wrong. They had no right to make this remote. He was seconds from the remote being completed, he just had to screw the back cover on it. He did it slowly to delay the inevitable, but the inevitable shoved him away from preventing the deed.

Baljeet oofed as he was shoved on the grass, the remote snatched from his hands, and the screw driver. With a terribly worried frown, he watched Isabella hastily and very quickly, screw the final screws, not even making sure they were tight before clicking the button to activate it.

The portal to the 2nd Dimension opened sure enough and Baljeet gulped as he stared through it. This was really, really bad...

* * *

**2** **nd** **Dimension (Roddenstein's Building).**

Irving was tossed into a room, again. Seriously, the harsh treatment was getting old, and, really rude. He stood again, turning to look all around him.

"Well this is weird…" The fan boy said to himself as he observed everything around him.

The walls were a pure white, not a spot of mesh of dirt on them. They were just bright, and there was a cot up against the wall. On the walls were those cabinets you usually see in a doctor's office. There was also a matching counter under those cabinets with a working sink he noted as he let the water rush over his hand, finding it the least bit interesting. The water was clear, not dirty, it was pure.

Irving looked to the door after turning off the sink. He turned the knob, but it didn't turn far. It was locked. It figured though, why  _wouldn't_  it be locked? He was captured by a crazy guy and his robots, and the dude had Platyborg to an advantage, using the cyborg to enforce his law. The stalker boy started to think logically and with an open mind .

If Platyborg was alive and well….then what about the alternate Doofenshmirtz? Was he alive too?

It would make sense and fit together like a puzzle. The cyborg being brainwashed, and the dictator forced to watch all he made be destroyed was a bonus, and evil one. It was the perfect method of revenge and conquest. Rodney was a sadist, so naturally, torture and suffering was the key.

" _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

The fan boy turned, putting full focus and concentration on his hearing, trying to trace where the scream came from. He couldn't find the source because just as soon as it started, the screaming stopped, leaving a dull silence in its path. Then another series of noises took its place, sounds of struggling, coming from the next room over to his right. He kneeled on the mattress of the small bed, pressing his ear against the wall to listen. Things were foggy and he couldn't make out words.

Irving turned to the counter, spotting a glass, he quick scrambled to get it and ran back to press the open part against the wall, and press his ear against the bottom of the cup. It worked and he could now make up words. They were mumbled, the words he heard next, and the voice was dry.

" _Please…Please…"_

"Doofenshmirtz?" The fan boy asked himself, his assumption correct as he kept listening.

Someone else in the room said something, and he heard the accented voice plead again, in pain.

" _I don't know…I don't know…please…"_

Irving wondered what they were talking about. What did Rodney want the alternate Doofenshmirtz to tell him? He concluded that it wasn't his dimension's Doofenshmirtz because their voice patterns were different. If you listened closely, they didn't really sound the same at all. The former dictator's voice was more gruff, and the scientist' voice was higher. The stalker boy heard what sounded like choked coughing after that, and gasping for air. Then more rustling of fabric and a slam as something was knocked against.

Then he didn't hear anything else from the neighboring room, and he was scared to know what had happened in there.

* * *

**2** **nd** **Dimension (Outside).**

Phineas looked at the scientist with gleaming eyes, hoping to get more of a confession out of him. It worked and Dr. D stopped climbing altogether to talk to him. No robots spotted them yet.

"Revenge…." Doofenshmirtz repeated. "He can't get away with this. He killed my counterpart, he can't just do that and get away with it!"

"Says who?"

"Says me! He can't do that!"

"Who's to say he can't?"

The scientist was overly confused with these questions. "What?"

"Who's to say he can't kill anyone?" Phineas asked him. "Who's to say he can't kill anyone we're close to? Why can't he do it?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" Phineas sighed. "What if he killed me?"

"He wouldn't."

"Why?"

"Because I'd kill him if he so much as tried."

"Why?"

"Because-"

Phineas blinked "Because you what?"

"Because I-"

"Because you feel it's your job to protect me?" Phineas said, and the scientist nodded.

"Yes. That's why."

"And if you had anything to say about it, I'd never be in any danger."

"Yes…" Dr. Doofenshmirtz said again, still confused as to where the boy was going with this and why.

"The same way your counterpart felt about Platyborg?"

"Yeah… I guess it was. I do think of you as my family, so that would be accurate…Where is this going exactly?"

"Then you'd give up anything to keep me out of harm?" Phineas said with a growing grin, scheming in his head.

"Of course." The scientist nodded.

Phineas frowned, sliding back down the rubble pile to the ground "Then I'm sorry Dr. D"

"…Sorry? Sorry for what?" Doof asked and then saw it. "NO PHINEAS!"

Phineas ran, right in front of a group of robots, calling to them and getting the attention of even more robots in the area. "Hey pencil necks!" They all turned to him. "Yeah you guys! Catch me if you can you stupid droids!" Then the boy ran as robot after robot after robot chased after him, firing lethally.

"Phineas!" Doofenshmirtz called down but the boy was too busy dodging lasers to respond to him. The scientist looked up, he was halfway up the pile, and Rodney was right there, he was so close and he could end this. He could go through with his plan right now and kill the asshole once and for all. He could avenge his counterpart's murder and find conclusion…

So why was he running in the opposite direction?


End file.
